Massapequa Park may be unable to combat DAS install
The mayor of Massapequa Park, N.J., said that despite opposition from residents and municipal staff, there may not be any way to derail Crown Castle’s plans to install a distributed antenna system node.
Residents turned out to a city meeting last month to object to the installation of a new DAS node location, according to the Massapequa Post. According to the report, residents primarily objected based on their apparent belief that emissions from the node could negatively impact their health.
Crown Castle has nine DAS sites in use across Massapequa Park; the proposed site in question is located at 148 Harbor Lane.
A DAS consists of various geographically separated nodes that are wired together and connected to a head unit, which is, in turn, connected to a cellular base station. DAS deployments, very common in stadiums and other large venues like hotels and convention centers, boost cellular coverage and capacity in proximity to the site.
Mayor Jeffrey Pravato told residents that the Massapequa Park Board, the local city council, is opposed to further installation of DAS nodes.
However, “The mayor indicated that the village does not have much recourse in stopping this since Castle Crown is a utility company that would be installing something in the right of way,” the local paper reported.
