Residents Fuming Over Proposed Cell Tower in North Bellmore

Residents strongly voiced their opposition to a proposed cell tower in North Bellmore at a public meeting held on Tuesday night at Mepham High School.

The 120-foot monopole proposed by the New York State Parks Department is still in a conceptual proposal and if approved, would be built in the wooded area just north of South Bismark Avenue and south of the Southern State Parkway near exit 26.

A new Town of Hempstead ordinance prohibits the construction of cell towers within 1,500 feet of homes, day care centers, schools and houses of worship. However, since the land is owned by the state, it is not under the jurisdiction of the Town of Hempstead.

Tuesday’s meeting was hosted by Jacqueline Murray, counsel to Crown Communications New York, Inc. In 1997, New York State contracted Crown Communications to build wireless communications towers. Since then, they have built upwards of 70 cell towers on state lands all across New York.

“At the very inception of conceptually developing any of these projects, our process is to come to the community at the earliest possible time and gather your comments,” Murray said while addressing the crowd.

She added, “Generally, the state lands that are attractive for these facilities are along rights of way that have already been disturbed by construction of the right of way and where service is needed by state, public safety agents and commercial wireless providers that seek to cover the area so that everybody’s cell phones work.”

The proposed monopole would be structurally capable of supporting pole location by five commercial carriers.

The top of the pole is reserved for state use, while ancillary antennas for wireless communication providers would be colocated beneath the state’s area, in an attempt to avoid “multiple redundant structures in a given area.”

Regardless of the potential to avoid other structures from being built in the future, North Bellmore residents on hand were frustrated with the towers that had already been built in the area and felt that one more was unnecessary.

“North Bellmore is picked on,” Richard Schary said. “It seems we get these giant cell towers and they just want to keep putting them up more here. I think it’s time to stop them.”

Schary’s wife, Lisa, voiced a similar opinion.

“The bottom line is that the saturation hasn’t been studied,” she said. “They haven’t looked into the fact that they are multiple carries on multiple poles. They have not cared about the fact that everyone here has an interest in this community.”

Also on hand was County Legis. Dave Denenberg, D-Merrick, who voiced his support of the community and opposition to the tower. He urged the representatives on hand from Crown Communications and the Parks Department to listen to the residents and their concerns.

“If there’s really not a necessity, why hurt us? … Please listen to us,” Denenberg said. “If there has to be a cell tower because there is a gap, then try to find locations where we’re all included in the process. We’ll help you find the best location.”

Murray assured all residents on hand that if there is no need for the tower due to lack of proof of a gap in service, then the facility would not be built.

“The facility will not be built if it’s not needed,” Murray said. “The need was identified by a couple of providers, which led to the concept to be developed. … A site will not be developed if there’s no need for it, it’s not worthwhile.”

Michael Sperling, whose house would be the fourth closest to the proposed tower if constructed, cited the environmental risks as a major concern.

“We can see the woods from our living room couch – the woods they want to remove in order to put up the cell tower,” Sperling said. “The woods screen us from the sights, sounds and the smells of the Southern State Parkway. We consider the woods to be valuable habitat.”

“One of the reasons we moved into that house is because we wanted to attract wildlife to our yard,” he added. “… According to the New York State Parks on their website, there’s a policy regarding preserving trees and forests. They list seven reasons why they would remove trees and forests, and a cell tower is not one of the seven reasons.”

Wayne Edwards, counsel to New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., R-Merrick, spoke on behalf of Fuschillo, who was unable to attend.

“The senator is co-sponsoring legislation in the State Senate giving municipalities the power to approve all cell tower projects within their borders, even ones built on state-owned land,” Edwards explained. “In addition the proposal would set minimum statewide standards for approving cell towers – these standards would provide for mandatory public hearings, greater disclosure to homeowners and require the applicant to demonstrate the proof of need.”

New York State Assemblyman, Tom McKevitt, R-East Meadow, backed Fuschillo’s legislation.

“This is going to be a very high tower in a completely residential area, essentially an area that is really wooded – that’s how we all look at it and I certainly join Senator Fuschillo’s opposition that this is not the appropriate site,” he said.

The monopole is still in the earliest stages of developments and residents were assured that the facility would not be constructed without further review and communication with the community.

“Typically, in these projects after a conceptual proposal moves forward to environmental review, the next step is to prepare a whole series of environmental analysis,” Murray said. “[The analysis includes] visual analysis with balloon tests, viewshed maps that would indicate where a facility of a certain height would be visible from based on topography and vegetation and buildings in the area, field studies of other environmental factors, and of course how the community feels about the project and whether or not the project will conflict with the community’s character or whether it will fit and solve the need for improved service.”