Town hears application for 'stealth' monopole in N. Bellmore

After having been adjourned multiple times, T-Mobile’s application for a proposed “stealth,” or hidden, cell tower at the North Bellmore’s Fire District’s north station on Newbridge Road and East Meadow Avenue was heard last Thursday.

The hearing happened nearly a week after the Town of Hempstead announced that it had passed legislation to regulate where cell towers and other wireless telecommunications equipment may be placed within the township. The new law, which bans cell towers or antennas within 1,500 feet of homes, houses of worship, daycare centers or schools, will not affect T-Mobile’s application because it was submitted before the statute took effect.

Robert Gaudioso, of the law firm Snyder and Snyder, represented T-Mobile and presented its application for a 100-foot-tall monopole. The stealth tower would replace a 100-foot communications tower at the site. The communications tower was built in 1999 and measures 36 inches wide at its base and 16 inches at the top. The new monopole would be 42 inches at the base and 27 inches at the top.

At the hearing, Gaudioso presented Dave Collins, a power emissions expert, to inform the board about how the tower would affect local neighbors. The Federal Communications Commission has limited how much power cell towers can emit, Collins said. The T-Mobile pole would emit 1.418 percent of the allowed output; the communications pole currently emits 1.35 percent of the allowed output. Collins also noted that an average household kitchen emits 3 to 7 percent of the allowed output.

Jeff Toback, the lawyer representing citizens opposed to the new stealth tower, seemed concerned with the safety of the power emissions. Zoning board Chairman David Weiss noted that the board cannot legally take health matters into consideration when reviewing cell-tower applications.

Owing to federal regulations, “we cannot consider the health issues that may or may not exist,” he said.