SECOR HOMES CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
P.O. Box 550, Ardsley, New York 10502
ANTENNA AMENDMENT VOTE UPDATE
Tuesday, March 9, 1999
You may be wondering what is happening regarding the antenna amendments proposed by the Town Board that are supposed to better "protect" residential neighborhoods. With fewer than 12 hours before the 3/10 7:15pm Town Board meeting, SHCA has learned the final wording of the ordinance is, unbelievably, still under consideration by the Town Board. Anything can happen Wednesday night at the meeting. Please attend.
As you know the Antenna Board proposed amendments to strengthen the antenna ordinance by fix loopholes and harmful Building Inspector interpretations. The Antenna Board's proposed amendments have been unanimously endorsed by civic groups throughout town, the Town's Planning Board and the Town's Conservation Advisory Council.
They have been opposed by cellular providers and the Town Board.
At the February 24th Town Board meeting Paul Feiner ambushed the Antenna Board with 20 questions designed to show, he said, that the Antenna Board's amendments would result in more antennas in residential areas. By the end of the night, he was calling this issue "a nightmare" because his questions, frankly, showed that he didn't understand the antenna law or Greenburgh geography. He was also trying to bait the Antenna Board into discussing possible health hazards regarding antennas. He did so knowing such discussions would have preempted our antenna ordinance and allowed antennas to be mounted wherever the cellular providers wanted. The Town Board meeting ended with the Antenna Board agreeing to meet with Town Board members Timmy Weinberg and Eddie Mae Barnes (without Paul Feiner) to discuss the amendments.
On Thursday, March 4, the Town Board handed the Antenna Board 6 pages of changes to the community-endorsed amendments. They were awful-- removing ALL as-of-right sites, which, if adopted, would remove any incentive for providers to locate their sites in areas preferred by the community. Unbelievable! The changes also removed funds for enforcement of antenna-related installations. The Antenna Board agreed to meet again Friday to discuss the matter further if the proposal was changed.
On Friday, March 5, the Town Board handed the Antenna Board 12 pages of changes to the community-endorsed amendments. They were even worse, even though the as-of-right sites were restored. The Antenna Board agreed to meet again Monday but weren't very hopeful. It clearly looked like continued delay tactics.
Over the weekend the Antenna Board met and reviewed the
Town's proposal in detail. Since time is short, for now, please accept that every
neighborhood would be more vulnerable to cell sites, but Fairview was specifically
targeted for more antennas, with the proposed amendments. They clearly didn't know what
impact their changes would have overall or were blatantly willing to sell
out the community.
At Monday's meeting, Eddie Mae Barnes, after reviewing the Antenna Board's findings, moved that the Town's proposal be set aside for possible study in the next round of amendments. (On Monday, 13 pages of changes were distributed to Ms. Barnes and the Antenna Board. It was also tabled.)
HOWEVER, the main sticky points are now:
1. Who determines if an application is complete and ready to be accepted--the building inspector (Feiner's choice) or the Antenna Board (the community's choice)?
2. Is the Antenna Board an "Antenna Board" or an "Antenna Advisory Board"? Feiner and some other Town Board members want it to be an Antenna ADVISORY Board and not an Antenna Board. (The Planning Board emphatically recommended it to be the Antenna Board and not an advisory board so the Town Board would have to insert the word advisory if they want it advisory.) This will likely be THE major controversy Wednesday night (other than Feiner recusing himself from voting because of his conflict of interest). Advisory vs not advisory is not petty even though it may seem like it at first. Right now the Town Board is willing to put in "strong" language that gives the Antenna Board decision-making authority regarding aesthetics and (possibly) completeness of applications. The issue raised by the Antenna Board and others is: How definitive is any "decision" by an "advisory" board? It appears that leaving the word "advisory" in the name, removes any "real" decision-making ability of the Antenna Board, so the Building Inspector, by default, will make all the final decisions. Your comments Wednesday night would be helpful.
In other words, we won't know what will happen regarding the antenna amendment vote until it happens (if it happens) and if you can make it to the meeting at 7:15 (tonight, Wednesday) at Town Hall it would be helpful. The audience really made a difference last time.