By DIANE VALDEN
ANCRAM—A 150-foot tall “wireless telecommunications facility,” also known as a cell tower is proposed on property at 6534 State Route 22 near the Columbia/Dutchess County line.
Anyone interested in seeing exactly where the tower is proposed, how high it will be and where it will be seen from is invited to a balloon test at the proposed site Saturday, February 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. In case of inclement or windy weather on February 22, the test will take place at the same location on Saturday, March 1. If that day doesn’t work because of the weather, they will keep trying “each consecutive weekend date thereafter until the balloon test is completed… weather permitting.”
The site is in the town’s Scenic Corridor Overlay Zone (SCOZ), a scenic resource located along the Route 22 corridor which runs from the town’s northern border with the Town of Copake to the southern border with the Town of Northeast (Dutchess County) and to the eastern border with the State of Massachusetts and 1,500 feet west from the centerline for the entire length of State Route 22 in the Town of Ancram. The town’s Zoning Law with regard to the SCOZ says, “All radio, television and telecommunication towers and other accessory structures shall be restricted to a maximum height of 100 feet from the base of the entire structure.” An applicant proposing a tower in the SCOZ “must demonstrate the need for a new tower structure by proving that the antennas cannot be co-located on an existing structure, building or barn.”
At the February 6 Ancram Planning Board meeting, appearing via Zoom, David Kenny, an attorney with Snyder and Snyder LLP, with offices in Westchester, Manhattan and New Jersey, told the board he represents Homeland Towers and Verizon Wireless. He introduced his colleague, Klaus Wimmer, a regional manager for Homeland Towers based in Danbury, CT. The firm’s website (homelandtowers.us) says it delivers cellular infrastructure services in the Northeast.
Mr. Kenny said his clients are proposing the Route 22 telecommunications facility “to fill a significant gap in services in the Verizon Wireless network.”
The proposed 150-foot monopole will have panel antennas on it and related equipment located within a secure fenced area at the base. Mr. Kenny said the tower would also provide “co-location space for other telecommunications providers and emergency service providers if there is a need for it in this area.”
Mr. Kenny said he met with the Planning Board back in September of last year in a pre-application meeting and noted that his clients have not yet submitted a complete application because they still need to do a visual analysis report, which is the purpose of the balloon test.
He said that during the test, a brightly-colored, three-to-four-foot in diameter balloon will be floated at a height of 150-feet. Then photos will be taken from various vantage points to see where the tower might be visible from and how visible it is. A second alternate color balloon will be floated at 100 feet above ground level for evaluation purposes.
Planning Board Chair Joe Crocco asked Mr. Kenny if he is “aware in this district the maximum height of a tower is 100 feet?”
Indicating that his clients intend to file a full application, Mr. Kenny said he is aware and that the application will be referred to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a height variance.
He said the proposed 150-foot height “is dictated based on technical needs…Our radio-frequency experts have put forth that this is the minimum height necessary” for Verizon to fill coverage gaps in this area. He said that in the height part of the review “we’ll have documentation in the application justifying why we proposed the height we proposed.”
Attorney Kenny stressed the importance of getting the balloon test done while the leaves are still off the trees. He said the wind can effect the success of the balloon test, noting that “if the wind is too strong it will blow the balloon out of place.” He said it is also preferable to do the test on a Saturday when people are at home and available to see it. The attorney said at noon on the Friday before the balloon test is scheduled there will be a “game time decision call” about the wind. If it is 10 to 15 mph or greater, the test will be postponed. There was discussion about in what publication a public notice about the balloon test should be placed to make the public aware of it.
Conservation Advisory Council Member and Ancram resident Jonathan Meigs asked if it is possible to push the proposed cell tower location north or south.
Mr. Kenny said the application will provide an alternatives analysis in which the applicant did a review based on the Town Code of where potential alternative locations would be available. “There are not any less intrusive locations available to the client. This property is the only available leasable location for the facility that would fill the gap in coverage. We have no ability to move the location to a different property…” said Mr. Kenny.
Mr. Wimmer noted that the balloon test and the photo simulations will be a very important part of considerations related to visual impacts and neighborhood aesthetics.
In response to comments from a resident of the town of Northeast, who said the Comprehensive Plan should be abided by and voiced objections to lights on the tower, Mr. Crocco said the Planning Board “can’t approve a 150-foot tower, it has to go to the Zoning Board.” He said the Planning Board will give its opinion, but first the board wants to see how it looks.
Mr. Wimmer said the location is suitable and will not have a big aesthetic impact because there is a ridge behind it and it will not be standing out or be visible as a silhouette. “It may disappear into the backdrop,” he said.
Planning Board member Philip Hack asked if microcells might be considered instead of the cell tower.
Mr. Kenny said there is “too large a gap in service, it requires a new macrocell.”
For updates regarding the balloon test, contact Planning Board Clerk Sarah MacArthur via email at Smacarthur@ancramny.org or check the town website at www.ancramny.org.
To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com
Two other communities are reviewing cell towers proposals
AUSTERLITZ/VALATIE–Also in the county, the Town of Austerlitz Planning Board is hosting a public hearing on a proposal for a Verizon cell tower on March 6 at 7 p.m. The tower is proposed for a property on Elm Street owned by Paul Mesick. Minutes from an August 2024 Planning Board meeting say that the tower will be a 150 feet monopole.
“Theoretically possible co-locators are: ATT, T-Mobile and the Dish Network,” the minutes say.
The March 6 meeting will be at the Austerlitz Town Hall, 816 Route 203.
In the Town of Kinderhook, the town Planning Board and the Village of Valatie’s Planning Board are hosting another joint meeting on a proposed Verizon cell tower to be located to behind the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building on March 10 at 6:30 p.m. The property is owned by the town and village. The proposal is for a 125 foot tower.
The meeting is not yet a public hearing. The municipal building is at 3211 Church Street in Valatie. —Emilia Teasdale
