Another Hearing is Needed for Mt. Kisco Cellular Installation Proposal
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
On July 20, 2021, the Mount Kisco Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) held a public hearing on Verizon’s appeal of the building inspector’s denial of the application for the installation of a cellular rooftop facility (macro tower) at 45 Main St. The variance sought to reduce the setback from the Village Code requirement of 514 feet to a mere six-foot radius!
Due to a lack of public awareness, no residents spoke at the lone hearing and the variance was approved in October 2021. It expired last September. The renewal normally requires ZBA approval. There is no public hearing scheduled.
The vaguely written public notice for the lone public hearing did not reach all of the affected residents. At the last Village Board meeting, the village attorney confirmed that the village erroneously provided Verizon with the wrong address for Ability Beyond, a group home for developmentally disabled/physically challenged individuals who require 24/7 supervision and care.
Ability Beyond is one of several residences located well within a 200-foot radius of the macro tower and is at eye level of the cellular transmission panels. The already impaired health of these residents is being recklessly jeopardized. Ability Beyond was never notified, as required. It’s unconscionable that their families, who are their voices, were denied the opportunity to speak.
Despite being under a federal mandate due to a coverage gap, the village has taken extraordinary measures to attempt to move a cell tower proposed for 180 S. Bedford Road, a sparsely populated area. In sharp contrast, the Village Board has not intervened on behalf of the neighborhood near 45 Main St., a densely populated area where no coverage gap exists.
Where is the same concern?
It appears the village is protecting a wealthier, politically-connected neighborhood over a significantly less well-to-do, historically underserved one.
The ZBA has both a duty and obligation to hold a properly noticed public hearing on the long-expired variance so that all of the voices of this negatively impacted neighborhood can truly have an opportunity to be heard. Anything less would be a travesty of justice and blatantly unfair.
Louis Terlizzi
Mount Kisco
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