June 12, 2009 — The commissioner for the Department of Planning and Natural Resources extended the moratorium on construction of telecommunication towers for another three months, according to a statement Friday.
Robert Mathes initially established a six-month moratorium in December 2008, but extended before it was set to expire in June to give his staff time to put rules and regulations together. However, the extension had no termination date.
"We wanted to put a definite time limit to move things forward," Planning spokesman Jamal Nielsen said Friday.
Mathes initiated the moratorium after residents opposed construction of two towers on St. Thomas. (See: "Tower Spat Prompts DPNR To Freeze Some Projects.")
Planning Wednesday began a round of hearings on the proposed rules and regulations. After hearings Wednesday on St. Thomas and Thursday on St. John (See: "Small Turnout, Big Issues at Cell Tower Hearing."), they were slated to conclude Friday on St. Croix.
Planning will begin work on incorporating comments from the three hearings as well as written comments as soon as the hearings conclude, said Dawn Henry, Planning's legal programs supervisor in the Environmental Protection Division, at the hearing Thursday on St. John.
News of the extension did not please one attorney who has a client with a building permit to erect a tower. St. John Attorney Steve Hogroian said that the moratorium is causing his client to lose income.
"And there's a loss of service to the community," he said.
His client plans to build a tower at Mount Pleasant on St. Croix to hold cell phone and wireless equipment. Hogroian said that his client received the building permit right before the moratorium began but had not started construction.
Copies of the Draft Telecommunication Facilities Rules and Regulations are available for review at Planning's Division of Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning offices. They're located at 45 Mars Hill, St. Croix, the 2nd Floor of the Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas and at the Marketplace shopping center on St. John. They're also available at all public libraries and University of the Virgin Islands libraries.
Additionally, copies of the draft rules and regulations are available via email to anyone who can't make it to the libraries. Call the Division of Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning at 774-3320 or 773-1082.
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