Here’s a quick summary of the letter:
- Crown Castle is not entitled to have the proposed Agreement granted in any form it desires.
- Crown Castle must submit a needs assessment to the Village Trustees:
- They must provide propagation maps and technical data showing what coverage is already present in Matinecock, and show that a gap in service exits. Their proposal must eliminate that gap in service by the least intrusive means possible.
- Crown Castle must provide visual materials measuring the specific aesthetic impact mounted DAS boxes would have on surrounding areas.
- They must name which carrier would be using the DAS (Distributed Antenna System).
- Approvals already exist for Sprint, Nextel and Cingular to locate antennas on the water tank owned by the Locust Valley Water District at Section 23, Block B, Lot 428. It must be determined whether these antennas will provide adequate cellular coverage for the Village before the Trustees agree to allow Crown Castle to install new antennas on utility poles in Matinecock.
- Village Trustees must adopt an ordinance so that all types of wireless telecommunication facilities are regulated.
- Village Trustees must require Crown Castle to submit the full Environmental Impact Statement required by SEQRA, the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
- This is particularly important given that one of the utility poles under consideration is located adjacent to Planting Fields Arboretum, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Crown Castle must provide adequate compensation for the use of utility poles in Matinecock, both now, and in the future.
- Crown Castle must grant the Village the maximum review period allowed by law to consider future requests by CC for additional installations of telecom equipment on utility poles.
- Village Trustees are urged to adjourn the public hearing for approving the Right-of-Way Use Agreement with Crown Castle until the issues raised in this letter have been fully addressed.
