Expressing disappointment that the St. Paul Boulevard Fire District wasn’t represented at their public hearing and noting that they won’t make a quick decision about a Verizon telecommunications tower being proposed for the St. Paul firehouse, the Irondequoit Town Board has postponed a vote on the project until at least its meeting next month.
The vote to table any decision on a resolution granting a special use permit to Verizon Wireless to construct and operate a 120-foot-high telecommunications tower, rooftop equipment and a generator at the firehouse at 433 Cooper Road came after a lengthy public hearing at the Town Board’s meeting Tuesday night (Aug. 17).
Attorney Jared Lusk, representing Bell Atlantic Mobile of Rochester, which does business as Verizon Wireless, spoke on behalf of the applicant, as did Verizon engineer Alex Bell.
“We’re suffering from a PCS coverage deficiency, or hole, in what we call our Hoover Road area,” Lusk told the board.
Bell explained that PCS, used for data transmission, is a different frequency than the one used for cell phone calls.
John O’Malley, a spokesman for Verizon, said last month that Verizon is seeking to build the new tower to provide increased capacity for voice and data transmissions by its customers.
The tower could serve not only Verizon’s needs, Lusk said, but also communications needs of the fire district and, possibly, Monroe County emergency communications.
About 20 concerned residents spoke at the hearing, some of them more than once. Only one speaker seemed to favor the tower.
“This is not a West Irondequoit issue or a backyard issue,” Lisa Slater told the board, “it’s a town and regional issue ... It (having a cell tower in a residential area) would have a negative long-term effect on the town ... It would be as high as a 12-story building and the technology could be obsolete in three to five years.”
Slated added: “Why should towns like Irondequoit pay the price for innovation?”
Kathy Francis said she checked with a Realtor and was told homeowners near and within sight of the tower could expect a 20 percent decrease in the value of their homes.
“That would mean a lot of unhappy homeowners,” Francis told the board, “and they’d expect their (property tax) assessments to be reduced ... What’s being touted as a gain could be a loss.”
To “make things right,” Francis said, the board should at least tell Verizon to put its money into concealment of the galvanized steel tower, perhaps by camouflaging it as a flag pole.
Expressing disappointment that the St. Paul Boulevard Fire District wasn’t represented at their public hearing and noting that they won’t make a quick decision about a Verizon telecommunications tower being proposed for the St. Paul firehouse, the Irondequoit Town Board has postponed a vote on the project until at least its meeting next month.
The vote to table any decision on a resolution granting a special use permit to Verizon Wireless to construct and operate a 120-foot-high telecommunications tower, rooftop equipment and a generator at the firehouse at 433 Cooper Road came after a lengthy public hearing at the Town Board’s meeting Tuesday night (Aug. 17).
Attorney Jared Lusk, representing Bell Atlantic Mobile of Rochester, which does business as Verizon Wireless, spoke on behalf of the applicant, as did Verizon engineer Alex Bell.
“We’re suffering from a PCS coverage deficiency, or hole, in what we call our Hoover Road area,” Lusk told the board.
Bell explained that PCS, used for data transmission, is a different frequency than the one used for cell phone calls.
John O’Malley, a spokesman for Verizon, said last month that Verizon is seeking to build the new tower to provide increased capacity for voice and data transmissions by its customers.
The tower could serve not only Verizon’s needs, Lusk said, but also communications needs of the fire district and, possibly, Monroe County emergency communications.
About 20 concerned residents spoke at the hearing, some of them more than once. Only one speaker seemed to favor the tower.
“This is not a West Irondequoit issue or a backyard issue,” Lisa Slater told the board, “it’s a town and regional issue ... It (having a cell tower in a residential area) would have a negative long-term effect on the town ... It would be as high as a 12-story building and the technology could be obsolete in three to five years.”
Slated added: “Why should towns like Irondequoit pay the price for innovation?”
Kathy Francis said she checked with a Realtor and was told homeowners near and within sight of the tower could expect a 20 percent decrease in the value of their homes.
“That would mean a lot of unhappy homeowners,” Francis told the board, “and they’d expect their (property tax) assessments to be reduced ... What’s being touted as a gain could be a loss.”
To “make things right,” Francis said, the board should at least tell Verizon to put its money into concealment of the galvanized steel tower, perhaps by camouflaging it as a flag pole.
“This is about a business decision and not about cell phone coverage,” said Ralph Genrich, whose home and business are next door to the firehouse. “This isn’t about the community.”
Many of the speakers said they understand the need and demand for technology, but have concerns about impact on their home values, their health and the safety of their children.
“Why let a business do something you wouldn’t let your own citizenry do?” Len Seibert of Pinegrove Avenue asked the board. “The whole ball game here is that this area is zoned R-1 (single family residential) and does that mean anything? This just isn’t right, folks ... there are different ways to handle this.”
Lusk said the Verizon team looked at other options, including walking the West Irondequoit School District property also on Cooper Road, but there were no viable alternatives with enough space. Plus, “It’s difficult to camouflage a 120-foot tower,” he said.
Lusk noted that the town did hire its own telecommunications consultant to issue a report on the application, and that person did conclude there was a demonstrated need for the PCS service.
Supervisor Mary Joyce D’Aurizio said that document would be posted Wednesday on the town’s website, www.irondequoit.org.
Lusk also said that Verizon “is fully in compliance with every line in the town’s telecommunications ordinance,” in making its request. He added that federal law prohibits a municipality from considering the health effects of radio waves in making its decision.
Toward the end of the hearing, the board was told that the board of fire commissioners, the elected governing body of the St. Paul Boulevard Fire District, did sign a lease agreement with Verizon May 24.
Councilman John Perticone did propose a full environmental quality review of the proposal, but no action was taken.
The town attorney said the board’s earliest vote on the matter would be at its Sept. 21 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1280 Titus Ave.
