NewPath Calls Public Meeting on 10 Proposed Cell Nodes

Residents in the Vale Road-Fox Mill Road area of Oakton received a letter last week inviting them to a community meeting on a proposal for cell nodes.

NewPath Networks, represented by the law firm Donohue and Stearns, is in the process of submitting an application to Fairfax County that would call for 10 cell nodes where existing utility and light poles stand along Vale Road, Fox Mill Road, Helmont Drive, Cobb Hill Lane and Vale Station Road. See the list below for approximate addresses.

Ed Donohue, of Donohue & Stearns, said he met with Planning Commissioner John Litzenberger (Sully) to discuss community outreach. Litzenberger suggested NewPath meet with the community long before the public hearing.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in the Richard Frank Room of the Sully District Governmental Center at 4900 Stonecroft Blvd., Chantilly.

"We expect to hold a follow up meeting closer in time to the hearing, which will likely be held in November," Donohue wrote in an email.

Litzenberger said he suggested NewPath meet with the community so they could learn about the relatively new technology used in providing better cell phone reception.

"It's no longer the huge 120-foot towers," Litzenberger said. "A lot of people complain they don't have good coverage or they don't have enough bandwidth for their smartphones, and this is one way to provide more capacity without having to build huge cell towers all over the place."

The cell nodes are a distributed antenna system, or a network of nodes that work together to give coverage to an area. The nodes provide broadband antennas that can accommodate any wireless carrier, allowing for greater wireless coverage and capacity.

In May, for five cell nodes in the Providence District part of Oakton and Vienna after they could not address concerns from the community about the cell nodes being placed in a residential area. NewPath plans to resubmit an adjusted application for that area.

The previous proposal planned to expand on a project already completed in the Oakton area that brought cell nodes to Hunter Mill Road.

Litzenberger said the residents' reaction at Monday's community meeting could have an impact on whether NewPath completes and submits the application to the county. He said it will probably depend on whether residents are happy with their current coverage.

"If the residents have a negative reaction and say they're happy with their cell phone coverage, then NewPath probably would not submit the application," Litzenberger said. "If people show up and people say it's better than other alternatives, then they'll probably go forward."

Litzenberger will not be at the community meeting Monday because he encourages the dialogue to be between the residents and the applicant in the initial stages. He will get more involved once the application is formally submitted and the volunteer land-use committee begins meeting with the community.

"The community members know best about the minutiae of a proposal," he said. "If they're OK with the nodes, but see a problem with maybe the color of the paint or see issues with how easily repair workers can get to the box for maintenance, that's valuable information the community can give the applicant."

Once the application is submitted, the county has 90 days to take action, whether it's to schedule a public hearing or request a 180-day extension.

The preliminary plans place cell nodes at the following approximate addresses:

To view a map of the approximate locations, click here.