Planning board narrows telecom options, schedules special meeting to continue visual-impact review

The Ancram Planning Board voted to schedule a special meeting for Feb. 11 to continue reviewing a proposed wireless telecommunications facility that has drawn lengthy public and technical scrutiny. Chair opened the session by confirming a quorum and asking board members to focus on SEQRA questions and alternatives for tower design.

Attorney David Kenny, representing the applicant, reviewed revisions to the project's visual materials and photo-simulations and said the submission compares a brown 100-foot monopole with lattice alternatives. "My name is David Kenny, attorney with Snyder Snyder," he told the board as he summarized the technical responses and the applicant's reasoning for the chosen design. The board and its consultants debated concealment, equipment placement and long-term maintenance; town consultant Nan noted outstanding SEQRA items that must be resolved before a significance determination.

Public comment was substantial and ranged from technical challenges to aesthetic objections. Attorney Andrew Campanelli urged the board to require probative data. "You don't have the data necessary to enable you to make an informed decision," he said, pressing the board to consider drive tests and alternative locations. In response, the board set a Feb. 11 special meeting to allow Cityscape, the town's consultant, and other experts to deliver written clarifications and additional viewpoint analyses before the regular March meeting.

The board recorded a motion to schedule the special meeting and later carried the public hearing to the March 5 meeting so the record can include any new submissions and consultant memoranda. Members emphasized that the Feb. 11 session will be limited in scope to SEQRA part 2/3 and the visual-impact questions cited by the town consultant. The chair closed the day by confirming which consultants the board requested to attend the special session.