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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. The Pleasantville Board of Trustees passed a local law Monday evening that will help regulate and control the placement of wireless communications towers within the village.
Theres a growing demand of installing these towers, Village Administrator Patti Dwyer said Tuesday. The board just wants the opportunity to review the different types of towers and sites where they can be placed.
The local zoning law will place a 12-month prohibition on applications seeking special use permits to install any sort of cellular towers. Dwyer said that the trustees along with Mayor Peter Scherer will take the time to research areas of the village where towers can be installed and not be an issue to any local residents.
Dwyer added that the moratorium was inspired after the State Department of Transportation attempted to install large traffic surveillance cameras along the Saw Mill River Parkway in Pleasantville, as well as Mount Pleasant and Chappaqua. Many residents in the area were displeased with the project and were able to force the state to halt the project in late February mostly due to concerns about how the towers would be eyesores to those who lived near the parkway.
Dwyer said research on telecommunications towers can prevent a tower project that could become a nuisance to residents.
For the future we want to look at existing towers that we have in the area and how they work, and also the visual impact on residents in certain locations, Dwyer said, who added that there already appears to be adequate cellular coverage in all areas of the village.
Dwyer said under the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, local governments such as the village cannot completely prohibit telecommunications towers, but can review and regulate them. The local law takes place immediately, and Dwyer said those seeking applications are able to file an appeal against the prohibition. The appeal will consider nine factors such as size of the subject, proximity to natural resources and the extent of the proposed construction, among others.
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