ROCKLAND — A company associated with AT&T is seeking Rockland’s approval to erect a $150,000, 120-foot monopole cell tower at 182 Camden Street (Route 1), which is a .79-acre lot currently owned by RT Properties LLC, whose address is at the Topsham Mall, in Topsham.

The parcel abuts land on which Pizza Hut sits.

Bay Communications LLC is headquartered in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

The proposal comes under the applicant named Bay Communication LLC, through another LLC entitled Northeast Wireless Networks (NEWN) LLC and which is affiliated with AT&T, according to the application filed Rockland City Hall.

The planning board will begin its application review Nov. 5, at Rockland City Hall.

“One of the key design objectives of NEWN’s systems is to provide seamless coverage without significant gaps in coverage or dead spots,” said the application, which is filed at the Rockland City Hall. “Such a system requires wireless facilities, such as the proposed facility, to be located fairly close together, depending on the location of existing and proposed facilities in the surrounding area.”

The technology requires line-of-sight and a clear path from the tower to the user on the ground, according to the application; hence, antennas are placed halfway up the pole, above the tree line and away from hills and competing structures.

The monopole is to for the transmission of voice and data of radio stations and wireless internet companies. 

According to city ordinance, towers taller than 75 feet that are to facilitate signal transmission are to seek special exception.

The tower is to extend 120 feet above the ground, with a four-foot lightning rod attached to its top.

Antennas are designed to be above the top half of the pole, and connected via cables running to an equipment cabinet located within a 50-foot by 50-foot leased area at the base of the tower.

That area would be surrounded by a six-foot tall chain link fence topped with three strands of barbed wire, to “secure the compound,” the application said.

The application noted the commercial nature of Route 1 as well as a residential neighborhood and more homes, “as one moves up the steep Ridgeline to the west-northwest of the site.”

If something happens to the tower, the application said, it will not fall over; rather, it is to buckle, “which means that the monopole will simply assume a bent position.”