Cell tower approved for South Norfolk

NORFOLK – The Connecticut Siting Council has approved a new cell tower for South Norfolk that will provide cellular coverage for customers who currently have spotty or no cell service along the Route 272 corridor between Norfolk and Torrington.

Last October, the council had approved the plans of Tarpon Towers III and Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, for a 186-foot tower to be located on a 40-acre parcel at 78 Goshen Street East. On March 13, its decision was finalized.

The tower site will be approximately 2,000 feet from the road between Goshen Street East and Estey Road and will be accessed from Estey Road. It is about 650 feet from the nearest residential structure on Estey Road.

An earlier proposed location drew significant opposition from residents of Old Goshen Road and Smith Road. At the time, residents organized an effort to potentially purchase the land from the owner, but the effort fell short. Last spring, Verizon instead selected the Goshen Street East site owned by Paul Chapinsky Sr.

“Luckily they decided to move on and go elsewhere,” said Sloane Klevin, of Old Goshen Road, who led the effort against the first location. “The big issue has always been emergency and town vehicles that have no cell service,” she added, noting that when town snowplows get stuck turning around on her property, they can’t call for help.

The plan to put the tower in its new location drew more than two dozen residents to an informational meeting in March 2025 at Botelle School in Norfolk, where they raised some opposition and concern about the project and its access off Estey Road. Later, at an August 2025 official Siting Council public hearing on the matter, no members of the public signed up to speak, but neighboring property owners opposed the project in written testimony.

Norfolk currently has four cell towers that service multiple providers. The new tower is expected to improve service for residents of Norfolk, Goshen and Winchester along Route 272. According to Cellco’s filing with the Siting Council, the company currently “has a coverage deficiency on Route 272 (4.9 miles in Norfolk and 2.1 miles in Goshen) and on Route 263 (0.4 miles in Goshen and approximately 3.0 miles in Winchester).”

“Based on a lack of reliable wireless service for Cellco in the Norfolk, Goshen and Winchester area, including Route 272 and Route 263 and surrounding areas, the Council finds a specific need for the facility,” the Council wrote in its findings of fact.

Last summer, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection found that the tower’s site is within the habitat area of the eastern red bat, a species of special concern, and within range of the northern long-eared bat, an endangered species on state and federal lists. As a result, the site work will avoid tree clearing from April 15 to Sept. 30.