Discussion of a proposed cell phone tower that some residents say will obscure views of Shawangunk mountain scenery brought out a large crowd to a town Planning Board meeting last week.

At a Town of Shawangunk Planning Board meeting on Sept. 7, Planning Board members said the town has received a 60-day notice to complete its environmental assessment for a cell phone tower and publicly went through the assessment.

Scott P. Olson, an attorney from Cooper, Erving & Savage LLP, representing Verizon Wireless, spoke at the meeting about the placement of the tower.

“We’ve engaged in a very thorough review of potential alternatives. As you know, this was not our preferred structure at all – it’s a significant compromise to our system and our network but we heard concerns from the public and the board,” said Olson.

The cell phone tower, proposed by Verizon Wireless in partnership with Cellco, would be a 120-foot tall “flagless flagpole” design tower, with no visible antennas on the outside. Originally, it was designed as a 145-foot “mono pole.”

The tower is proposed for 23 Twin Ponds Lane on private property. The design and location have changed since it was originally introduced to the town two years ago. At that time, a balloon test for visual impact done by a visual consultant for the town found there would not be a significant impact by the tower.

David K. Gordon, an attorney who said he represented the concerned interests of some residents of the town, said “things have fallen through the cracks” and that “the overall visibility [of the tower] has been significantly underestimated.”
Citizens also had an opportunity to speak about the proposed tower.

“I live almost directly across from where this tower is being proposed. I looked out my front door today and I’m going to look right at it. To think that that tower is now going to be there, I find it insulting to the people who started that community,” said Diane Martin, who lives on Hoagerburgh Road.

Residents also voiced concerns about the environmental impact of the cell phone tower and wildlife in the area. The board, as well as the applicant,  had reached out to both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation about the impact of the tower.

The area for the proposed tower site falls near the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, part of the national wildlife refuge system created when the military filled a wetlands with tons of earth to make it an airstrip in the 1940s. It is now home to grassland dependant migratory birds.

“There was no discussion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the DEC about any other impact on the birds from the refuge. There is language in there that the tower is not in the direct location,” said Christy Grant, a consultant to the Village Board on the cell phone tower.

Board members and consultants to the town explained to residents that there were federal laws that needed to be obeyed in the process of reviewing the plans for the tower.

“The FCC, the federal government, has said that we cannot deny towers throughout our town if there is a need shown,” said Planning Board Chair Kris Pedersen.

Grant explained that the law that the FCC administers and originally passed by Congress, called the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, prevents a town from simply denying a cell phone tower from being built altogether.

“They wanted there to be equal treatment for the new cell companies – no matter what there technologies were. Villages, cities and towns had to accommodate them to the same extent that they already accommodated the landlines and phones we grew up with,” said Grant.

Commercial development planned for Wallkill
The Town of Shawangunk Planning Board held an open public information session last week to discuss a development proposed for both commercial and residential units on the east side of Park Avenue, north of the intersection with Route 208.

According to the proposed plan, there would be 27,350 square feet in the new complex dedicated to commercial use, 20 units for townhouse apartments, 28 for apartment units, 24 flats, and 271 parking spaces altogether. According to the proposal there would also be improvements to roads and pedestrian circulation on 9.02 acres of land.

The developer is Stewart Cromwell of the Hamlet of Wallkill.

By JAMES NANI