SCOTCH PLAINS — The zoning board of adjustment last week approved an application to construct a new cell phone tower on the water company property on Jerusalem Road.

CX Towers Leasing, LLC., will construct a 160-foot high cell tower on the property owned by New Jersey American Water, which wants existing cell antennas removed from its water tank and has made space available nearby for a separate monopole to be built. The plan is for the new pole to be located within a 35-ft. by 35-ft. compound surrounded by a fence. Three carriers—AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile—will have antennas at the top of the tower, with space for a fourth at a future date.

At last Thursday’s hearing—the fourth since the process started last October—professional planner Tim Kronk talked about his balloon test where a red helium balloon was raised 160 feet in the air to simulate the height of the tower and showed photographs of the balloon and a simulated tower from seven different streets near the water company property. Due to difficulties in raising the balloon in the precise location of the proposed monopole—the heavilywooded area made that impossible, Mr. Kronk said—the balloon was situated slightly about 50 feet from where the pole will be built, but still provided a more-than-adequate representation in Mr. Kronk’s depictions.

The equipment shed housing the pole’s cables and other materials will be situated north of the pole and the water tank, and the tower’s base and equipment shed won’t be visible to any of the house that abut the water company property.

Once it was clear that the board was satisfied with the depictions of the monopole’s location, discussion turned to whether it should be pained to blend in more with its surroundings. An initial idea to paint the lower half brown, to mix in with the wooded area, and the upper half blue, to mesh with the sky, was scratched after Mr. Kronk noted that the brown-blue combination would not necessarily be evident due to differing tree heights when viewed from different vantage points. Instead, it was agreed to paint the pole and the antennas a muted gray color.

Before the board’s unanimous vote to approve the application, board chairman Craig Peskin pointed out that the site is “already is use as a cell tower; it’s not a new site.” He added that the “benefits outweigh the detriments.”