By Laura Lane
About 35 residents turned out to voice their disapproval of a request by the cellular company to erect 12 cell phone antennas atop the Carefree Racquet Club at 1414 Jerusalem Ave. in North Merrick. Residents say the location is too close to Fayette Elementary School and homes.
T-Mobile attorney John Huber raised his voice several times, arguing with residents who interrupted him as they attempted to catch the attention of BZA members. Board members spoke informally to residents and T-Mobile representatives, who had waited more than three hours for the hearing to start. Board members had explained that the calendar was full that day and suggested an adjournment, encouraging the parties to agree on a future date.
Residents said they were unwilling to discuss a future hearing date until T-Mobile representatives told them what progress they had made in finding an alternate location for the cell antennas. Many residents would like the antennas moved to the New York state Department of Transportation building about a quarter-mile west of the Carefree Club, off the Southern State Parkway. North Merrick resident Bob Hackett suggested the location during a BZA hearing in June.
Residents have argued that if the proposal were approved, the antennas would become a focal point in the skyline, rising six feet above the highest point of the building, which has a 26-foot roof line. Residents said they feared the antennas would have a negative effect on local property values.
T-Mobile representatives said they chose the site in response to complaints about signals from their customers and were attempting to fill a gap in coverage.
Huber said that T-Mobile had not heard anything from the state regarding the DOT site. He added that there was a third party involved, Crown Communications, the telecommunications contractor for DOT properties, which also had not responded.
North Merrick resident Salvatore Scarfeo said he couldn't understand why the state wouldn't approve relocating the antennas to the state DOT site. "You see them on the state highway anyway," Scarfeo said. "If Crown says no, we'd like them in court to testify why they're refusing."
Carefree Racket Club is a little more than a half-mile from Fayette Elementary School. "I see people walk their kids to school that live behind me," said Scarfeo. "My house is located on the side of Carefree Racquet Club."
He said that he and other North Merrick residents had attended a recent South Merrick Civic Association meeting. The group has been involved in an effort to convince Cingular Wireless to change the location for planned cell phone antennas from a building near Levy-Lakeside Elementary School on Merrick Road to a site farther away, at the Town of Hempstead garbage transfer station at Clubhouse and Merrick roads.
"We're going to support each other, north and south Merrick, at the Board of Zoning Appeals hearings and by getting signatures on each other's petitions," said Scarfeo. "We're fighting the same company. Everybody's sticking together."
Residents and Omnipoint representatives agreed to leave open a later BZA hearing date. "We all agreed that the earliest possible date would be February," said Hackett. "After we receive the paperwork, we'd like to go to our state senator [Charles Fuschillo Jr.] to get some help from him. I can't understand why T-Mobile hasn't heard from the state."
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
