ZBA presses TowerComm to move high school cell tower

Zoning Board of Appeals · Meeting of August 4, 2026

GROTON — The Groton Zoning Board of Appeals pushed TowerComm to move a proposed 120-foot cell tower farther from Groton-Dunstable Regional High School's maintenance building and continued the hearing to August 19. Board members said a Sunday site walk found the tower sited "a few inches shy of 100 feet" from the building, not the roughly 110 feet claimed in TowerComm's application, and just 70 feet from the school's bus driveway. The board asked TowerComm representative Benny DeTuri to move the structure at least 150 feet from the building and 130 feet from the driveway; DeTuri said relocation could push the project into mapped rare-species habitat and said "we've provided an overwhelming, overwhelming amount of evidence to show why we want to be where we want to be." Abutter Radley Neeland argued the burden falls on TowerComm to prove no compliant site exists.

The board also reorganized, electing Greg as chair, Jack as vice chair, and Bruce Easton as clerk.

In the full story:

• Procedural Background and the Federal Shot Clock
• The Site Walk and Measurement Dispute
• TowerComm's Written Position
• The Siting Debate: Three Options
• Public Comment
• Procedural Steps and Outcome
• Implications and What Is Next
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 1,847 words

Source: the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting of August 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.