Babylon outlines new

cellular tower code

by Carolyn James

Several North Amityville residents are urging the Town of Babylon to scrap a plan to install a 100-foot monople wireless tower near their home on Route 110, saying the plan did not taken into consideration the nearby homes and would present a threat to their community.

Sharon White, of Madison Avenue told the board that she lives across the street from the site and that the area is well populated. "I don’t think these towers should be anywhere in the Town of Babylon," she said.

Aldrea Alvex of Cooper Street said her concern was what would happen if the pole is struck by a car. "There are many accidents in this area," she said, adding that she believes the community was not adequately notified of the proposal.

The tower is proposed by JPE Wireless of Peconic Avenue, West Babylon and is to be located south of Linda Street. It recently came before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a hearing and is currently under review.

Ironically, the issue was raised at the same Town Board meeting at which the Board proposed a new law establishing, among other things, restrictions on the location of new cellular tower. Under federal regulations the Town is limited in its refusal to grant applications for wireless cellular towers based on health and esthetic concerns. Instead, its only recourse is to be able to show that the towers are not needed to provide a "seamless" service to cell phone users and to limit their location through zoning.

The new law itself, while being hailed by residents and civic leaders who have been asking the Town to limit the number, size and location of these towers, asked the board to make some changes to the law before implementing it.

"The first thing we would like to see is to have the Town Board and not the Zoning Board be the board that approves or denies these applications," said Frank Bustamante, who, with his wife Lorraine have waged a battle with the town about cellular towers. "The Town Board is made up of our elected officials and they should be held responsible."

In addition, Bustamante said the Town should change the wording in the proposed code from telecommunications towers to personal wireless cellular facilities. "The way the code is written now it is strictly for towers, but there are more wireless facilities than towers such as those used on telephone poles and water towers," he said.

"And the Town code should match the FCC code, which uses the term personal wireless cellular facilities," added Lorraine Bustamante.

The Bustamante’s also want the Town to require that all towers constructed have a fall zone double the height for adequate safety. Currently the code requires only the setbacks under the zoning. "A larger fall zone will protect people who congregate near the site as well as nearby property owners," said Bustamante who is preparing a final response to the proposal to deliver to the Town for its review.

"We understand that people need and want cell phones," said Lorraine Bustamante. But our goal is to ensure that we are not bombarded with large towers and radio emissions and microwaves in the Town of Babylon, and that the way we put them up will be safe for our kids."