L&M Publications
Merrick Life • Bellmore Life • Freeport-Baldwin Leader • Wantagh-Seaford Citizen

CORRECTION: In the August 19 edition a article printed titles, “Cell towers to be banned,” Sharon Curry, representing M.O.M.S., was misquoted.  In referring to the health effects of wireless equipment, Ms. Curry said that an article written in the official magazine of the American Academy of Pediatrics has “expressed concerns about the correlations of radio frequencies as a possible carcinogen.” Ms. Curry was referring to the Abstract, which states “consistent epidemiologic evidence of an association between childhood leukemia and exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields has led to their classification by the International Agency  for Research on Cancer as a possible human carcinogen.” The American Academy of Pediatrics has taken no official position on this issue. The article concludes with a recommendation that additional research is needed along with the development of precautionary policies in the face of scientific uncertainty.

A new town ordinance restricting the siting of wireless telecommunications equipment such as cell towers and antennae was unveiled on the Town of Hempstead’s website last week.  The proposed ordinance will make it more difficult for wireless providers to place equipment near residences.

The Town Board will hold a public hearing on the new law at the regularly scheduled Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 21, starting at 10:30 a.m. The new law is intended to help address residents’ concerns about the proliferation of wireless equipment in residential neighborhoods, near school playgrounds, places of workshop and day care centers.

Under the proposed ordinance, wireless communication providers will be required to document a need for new towers and antennas, including  a drive test or call test results that demonstrate gaps in service, as well as a checklist to determine whether existing locations have been excluded from consideration.

Applicants will be encouraged to try and find a co-location or share a site with another wireless provider.  It also lists a priority siting list, one being the highest priority in placing equipment on an existing tower or other structure on town-owned or other publicly-owned property; and seven being the lowest priority, erecting a new tower in areas zoned for residential use.

“The person seeking such an exception must satisfactorily demonstrate the reason or reasons why such a permit should be granted for the proposed site, and the hardship that would be incurred by the applicant and/or the public if the permit were not granted for the proposed site,” the proposed ordinance states. 

“An applicant may not bypass sites of higher priority by stating the site proposed is the only site leased or selected. An application shall address co-location as an option. If such option is not proposed, the applicant must explain to the reasonable satisfaction of the involved town agency why co-location is commercially or otherwise impracticable. Agreement between providers limiting or prohibiting co-location shall not be a valid basis for any claim of commercial impracticability or hardship.”  

When a new tower is proposed, wireless companies would be required to hoist a large, colorful balloon at the site of a new cell tower installation. The balloon will be flown at the same height as the cell tower to illustrate the visual impact  it would have in the neighborhood. The balloon must be flown for four consecutive hours over a period of one week including one day over the weekend.

Applicants would be required to advertise their balloon test seven to 14 days before the test begins. New installations would also require a site plan that includes an area map displaying the locations, size, height and usage of all structures and buildings within 1,500 feet of the proposed site.

At the September 7 Town Hall meeting, county Legislator David Denenberg urged the Town Board to remove clauses from the proposed ordinance that exempt existing cell antennas and/or towers from complying with the new code. 

Sharon Curry, representing Mothers of Merrick and Bellmore (M.O.M.S.), told the Town Board she was “thrilled but a little concerned that it is a little late. My son is starting fourth grade today at Birch School. This will be the second year that he is spending six hours a day next to cell antennae and that is not okay,” she said. Ms. Curry also asked the board to address the direct antenna systems (DAS) systems already in the community.

Claudia Borecky, a member of the Telecommunications Taskforce, agreed and asked for an adjournment of the public hearing so that residents might have more opportunity to examine the legislation. However, the town board voted to hold the public hearing on September 21.

Several new cell projects have been proposed in our area, including Merrick, Wantagh, Bellmore and Wantagh. In Wantagh, T-Mobile has proposed to build six antennas on the roof of the Farmingdale-Wantagh Jewish Center on Woodbine Avenue  in the center of a residential community. That application, which went before the town’s zoning Board of Appeals, was adjourned until October 5.

In North Bellmore, T-Mobile placed an application to install six wireless communication antennas concealed inside a proposed 100-foot high monopole and equipment cabinets on the ground of 847 Newbridge Road, land owned by the North Bellmore Fire Department.  That application, due to be heard on September 15 before the zoning board, will also be adjourned, said officials at a town board meeting on August 3.

In Merrick, T-Mobile recently  approached the North Merrick Library about the possibility of erecting a 50-foot flagpole cell tower to replace the flagpole that stands in front of the library. The library board has made no decision yet to move forward on this project. All cell applications before the town’s zoning board were put on hold until the new ordinance is passed. “Hempstead Town and its residents will be heard with expert testimony and a new telecommunications ordinance,” said Supervisor Kate Murray in a press releasse  regarding the new proposed ordinance. “Now, residents will have the highest level of protection from the telecommunication giants allowed under federal law.”

For a full copy of the proposed law you can go to the Town of Hempstead’s website at www.toh.li.

By Laura Schofer

Laura Schofer, staff writer for L&M Publications, has been recognized with several awards for many of her feature pieces published in Bellmore and Merrick Life, The Citizen and The Leader.

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