East Lyme — AT&T has notified the state Siting Council that it is withdrawing its petition for an 85-foot temporary cell tower on land off Ancient Highway.

The company's decision follows the one-year extension of a lease for the site where an existing cell tower is located, AT&T spokeswoman Kate MacKinnon confirmed.

First Selectman Mark Nickerson said the town had worked to extend the cell company's lease for the existing cell tower site, located off Scott Road near The Orchards development, until the end of 2016.

AT&T had said in its petition to build the temporary tower on Ancient Highway, filed in April with the Siting Council, that it was seeking a temporary tower while working on a permanent replacement for the 150-foot tower whose lease was set to expire at the end of the year. The cell tower would be for both AT&T and T-Mobile service.

Now, the cell tower at The Orchards is not slated to be taken down until late 2016, when the recently revised lease expires, according to a June 8 letter from Christopher B. Fisher, an attorney for AT&T, to the Siting Council.

AT&T said it still needs to find a site for a permanent tower.  A public notice, posted April 13 in The Day, had asked for public comments regarding the "potential effects on historic properties" from a proposal to build a permanent 175-foot tall tower on Ancient Highway.

On Friday, the company filed technical reports with the town for two potential locations for a permanent tower: the Ancient Highway site, referred to as “Site A” and controlled by Ancient Highway Towers LLC., and a residential site at 351A Boston Post Road, referred to as “Site B” and controlled by American Tower Co., according to a June 5 letter to the town.

The reports propose a 175-foot tall monopole tower on the 4.23-acre Ancient Highway site, which stands next to an 8.65-acre lot, or a 194-foot tall monopole tower on the 7.16-acre Boston Post Road site.

AT&T said in its most recent letter to the town that it doesn't expect to file a formal application for a permanent tower with the Siting Council until at least September. 

“Over the course of the next ninety days, we anticipate meeting with First Selectman Nickerson, coordinating further visual studies of the proposed tower sites and exploring recommendations or preferences Town of East Lyme officials may have, related to this project,” Fisher states in the June 8 letter.

In the letter, the company asked the town to hold a public information session in late July.

Nickerson said he has provided the cell company with information about the town's preferred sites.

The town and a group of residents, "East Lyme Residents for Responsible Cell Tower Placement," had been approved as intervenors in the petition for the temporary cell tower.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich