Planning Commission OKs Cell Nodes in Vale Area

The Planning Commission unanimously in the area around the intersection of Vale and Fox Mill roads Thursday.

The cell nodes are part of a distributed antennae system (DAS), or a network of nodes that work together to give coverage to an area. The nodes, from NewPath Networks, provide broadband antennas that can accommodate any wireless carrier, allowing for greater wireless coverage and capacity.

"This has been vetted thoroughly through the community," Commissioner John Litzenberger Jr. (Sully) told the community. "They visited the Sully District Council and also they visited some of the homeowners associations out there."

Litzenberger referred to a letter received from Fairfax County resident John Farrell, who wrote he has been traveling down Fox Mill Road to head to work for the past 14 years. 

"On a number of occasions, for either accidents, downed utility lines, struck deer, et cetera, he's been unable to get a 911 call in due to lack of coverage," Litzenberger said. "... [T]he vast majority of the community up there is in favor of this."

The commission approved the plan (2232-Y11-9) after a public hearing that had no speakers in support of or in opposition to the application.

Information on construction for the nodes was not available by press time.

NewPath Networks, represented by the law firm Donohue and Stearns, submitted the application to Fairfax County. AT&T has hired NewPath, a subsidiary of Crown Castle, for the Oakton project.

Representatives from NewPath held public meetings in and , both of which saw little resistance to the proposal. 

In February,  in the Miller Heights and History Drive area of Oakton about a proposal for four cell nodes. Through a separate application within the Providence District, the cell nodes were planned as a part of the project being proposed in the Vale area of the Sully District. The Providence District application has since been withdrawn.

According to a letter sent to Vale residents in May, the approved Sully plan will place cell nodes near the following approximate addresses:

• 2903 Fox Mill Road
• 3003 Fox Mill Road
• Fox Mill Road and Helmont Drive
• 11528 Vale Road
• 3153 Cobb Hill Lane
• 12006 Vale Road
• 3601 Vale Road
• 3265 Fox Mill Road
• 3281 Fox Mill Road
• 3229 Fox Mill Road

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