White Plains Council Amends Telecommunications Ordinance
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The White Plains Common Council voted last week to amend the city’s telecommunications ordinance in regard to small wireless facilities following several years of lobbying from environmental advocates and a group of residents.
“This has been a long road and many years coming,” said Councilwoman Jennifer Puja. “The time has come.”
The newly amended ordinance aims to enable wireless infrastructure in White Plains, while simultaneously protecting the public from adverse impacts. New provisions include setbacks from homes and schools.
“This wasn’t simple,” Common Council President Justin Brasch said. “Public health and safety are top priorities. These new regulations provide reasonable protections against the potential dangers linked with small cell wireless antennas.”
Mayor Thomas Roach and Corporation Counsel John Callahan, the latter in a memo to the council, pointed out the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2018 limited the ability of municipalities to regulate certain aspects of the installation and operation of small wireless facilities, but gave leeway for local officials to regulate the facilities in certain areas.
“We have to play in the field we were given,” said Roach. “The federal government took away our right in terms of health and safety.”
Ruth Moss, director of SafeTech Westchester, and Ellen Weininger of the national non-profit Grassroots Environmental Education were two of the leaders of the more than three-year effort to urge the council to add “common sense protections” to the city’s ordinance.
“We all love technology,” said Nick Wolff, a long-time White Plains resident and popular realtor, “but above all, it has to be safe.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/