Seaside Park Officials Tasked With Decisions on Proposed 5G Node Placements

A small 5G wireless facility on top of an existing timber pole, Lavallette, N.J., May 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Seaside Park officials from two decision-making bodies will have the task of determining the placement of mobile communications equipment in town.

In the short term, next week, the borough planning board is scheduled to hear testimony from New York SMSA Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of Verizon, which will ask the board for permission to place two 5G antennas in the public right-of-way in town.

Verizon will ask to place the arrays at 74 O Street and 13 J Street. Both properties are single-family residential homes, neither of which have existing utility poles in the right-of-way, though there are existing utility poles roughly across the street from both properties. A public notice of the meeting does not detail exactly what equipment, specifically, the company is proposing to install. That testimony is expected to be given at the meeting.

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“Verizon is coming in to explain the 5G nodes because there was some pushback,” said Councilman William Kraft.

The planning board hearing will be held Tuesday, June 27 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers above the borough’s police headquarters.

A longer-term decision will be setting rates for the leasing of space on the borough’s water towers, as contracts that have existed – in some cases – for the better part of 20 years come to an end. This decision will rest with the borough council, whose members will confer with experts to determine market rates for leases.

Currently, there are separate contracts that have been in force for many years, each with differing terms and escalator clauses.

“They’ve been there in upwards in 20 years, and the first one is coming due at the end of the summer,” said Mayor John Peterson. “Our job will be to make the new agreement commensurate with what the going rate might be.”

“Sprint no longer is doing it, but AT&T has the one coming up, and Verizon has an antenna up there too,” he added.