CBS to Address Radio Tower Concerns

Representatives of CBS Radio East plan to appear before local residents to address concerns regarding the proposed new radio tower on Church Street.

According to Karen Mateo, senior vice president of communications, CBS is set to appear at the Cinnaminson Township Committee work session next Monday, Feb. 3, at 6:30 p.m.

She said the company is also working on arranging a general meeting with local residents, though a date and location have not been finalized.

CBS is scheduled to go before the Moorestown Zoning Board on Tuesday, Feb. 18, to seek approval to build a 199-foot AM tower on a 21-acre piece of land off North Church Street, at the border of Moorestown and Cinnaminson. A public hearing was originally scheduled for last Tuesday, but was canceled due to snow.

In its application to the township, CBS explains the tower will act as a backup to the existing 425-foot AM tower, which has stood on the same parcel of land since the ‘40s. The proposed new tower “will be utilized in the event that the existing tower is not functional and/or needs to be taken offline,” the document reads. The existing tower—as well as the new one, should it be built—is used to broadcast WPHT in Philadelphia.

CBS explains the new tower—one of many backup systems the company is installing across the country—would be of critical importance during severe weather events, which have caused outages and disruptions in the past.

“(The tower) will benefit the surrounding communities because it will ensure continued broadcast capability in the event that the existing tower becomes inoperable,” the company wrote in its application.

Though CBS noted the proposed tower would only be used an auxiliary, it’s not clear whether it would generate any power when not in use.

Several residents who live nearby claim the existing tower has caused disturbances—i.e. interference coming through light switches and phones—for years and are concerned the new tower would exacerbate the problem.