Armory Cell Tower 'Effectively Dead'

The at the Armory has been shelved by state military offiicials.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) and Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) announced at Tuesday evening's Town Council meeting that the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has dropped the proposal, which had been greeted with strong neighborhood opposition. The legislators said they plan to meet with National Guard officials to discuss future uses for the Armory.

"The cell tower is not longer a priority for the National Guard at that site," Kean said. "It is effectively dead."

The state military department put the cell tower proposal forward last year to raise funds for the cash strapped state government. The decision generated strong opposition in the residential neighborhood surrounding the Armory, which quickly organized to block the proposal.

Residents cited public health concerns regarding the cell tower, along with the Armory's close location to Westfield High School, McKinley School and Holy Trinity Interparochial School. Residents in the historic Stoneleigh Park neighborhood noted that the tower would detract from the historic nature of their neighborhood which lies diaganolly across the Dorian and Rahway intersection from the Armory.

Since the Armory is state property, the town government has no control over the placement of cell towers on the property. The Town Council did pass a resolution opposing the move, while Kean and Bramnick took up the cause on a state level. Kean reported having several meetings with state Adujunct General Glenn Rieth, the head of the military department, about the cell tower proposal. 

The proposal has during a state military department review of the proposal, along with input from state environmental and historic preservation officials. During this time, neighborhood residents continued to place lawn signs opposing the tower and organize for the future.

Kean said that with teh cell tower dead, he plans to work with Rieth and his office on new plans for the Armory. During his remarks to the Town Council on Tuesday night Kean hinted that the proposal to have Westfield High School students at the Armory could be revived. The last summer by the Board of Education after the state military department provided too high of a cost for parking passes, a decision that was from students at the high school. Councilman Keith Loughlin has said when the BOE killed the plan that he thought it was to have students park at the Armory.

Bramnick used his remarks to thank Council members for their work on the tower.

"We appreciate the efforts you did in keeping Westfield Westfield," he said.