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Published: 06 April 2013

Created: 06 April 2013

Last Updated: 10 April 2013

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After much speculation it's been confirmed... telecommunications provider Crown Castle has already installed five DAS antennas in Scarsdale. They did the work without advising the town by installing the DAS antennas in the right of way on state-owned roads that run through Scarsdale.

Scarsdale10583 has obtained copies of applications filed by Crown Communications with the NYS Department of Transportation to install five DAS antennas in the right of way along state roads in Scarsdale. The applications were filed on May 24, 2012 to add DAS nodes to existing poles and add a cabinet onto each pole at these five locations:

• Post Road at Richbell Road
• Post Road at Edgewood Road (across from 2 Edgewood Road)
• Route 22 – Just North of Rugby Lane
• 125 Secor Road at Heathcote Bypass/Wildwood Road
• 60 Palmer Avenue

The estimated cost to install each node is $12,000.

The work was done without providing any notification to the Village of Scarsdale and residents and Village Managers were surprised to see these boxes going up – one in the right of way directly in front of a home on Palmer Road. Though Peter Heimdehl, Director of Government Relations for Crown Castle was in Scarsdale the week of the installation to discuss a proposal to amend the Village's zoning code, he never mentioned that these boxes were going up.

After the Village learned of the installations, Village Attorney Wayne Essanason contacted the Public Service Commission (PSC) to determine whether Crown Castle complied with it's Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, which the Village believes requires municipal approval. According to Village Manage Al Gatta, "the Village expects to receive an answer from the PSC shortly. If the decision is unfavorable to Scarsdale, the Village is prepared to pursue the PSC interpretation of the requirement." Village code prevents the installation of an antenna within 350 feet of a residence. However, since Crown Castle, operating as an agent of the State of New York, is exempt from local zoning requirements, the issue with Scarsdale is that under it's Certificate it should have gained local approval for the installations.

Crown Castle has also applied to the Village of Scarsdale to amend the current zoning code to allow for the installation of 15 more DAS antennas on residential streets. The application is now before the Scarsdale Village Planning Board who last considered the matter at their February 11 meeting.

Proposed locations are as follows:

• 181 Fox Meadow Road
• 1 Ogden Road
• 21 Autenrieth Road
• 149 Lee Road
• 252 Grand Boulevard
• 28 Heathcote Road
• 17 Heathcote Road
• 12 Ross Road
• 54 Claremont Road
• 12 Ridgecrest East
• 7 Sycamore Road
• 11 Wynmor Road
• 109 Mamaroneck Road
• 4 Drake Road
• 81 Brookby Road

In order to demonstrate that these 15 additional locations are needed, Crown Castles must show that these antennas will fill a significant gap in service. Now that they have already installed five antennas in Scarsdale, they may no longer be able to prove that more nodes are needed.

In response to questions raised by residents about the installation of these antennas, Trustee Stacey Brodsky read the following statement about DAS at the Village Board Meeting on Tuesday night April 9. In the statement she assured residents that all voices would be heard before the Planning Board recommends changes to the zoning code.  Here is her statement:

Questions have been raised in an email that is circulating in the Village about a proposed amendment to the zoning code relating to distributed antenna systems ("DAS"). This statement is an effort to explain the process that is underway with respect to this proposal. It is important to state at the outset that no change can be made to the zoning code without a process that provides ample opportunity for community input.

Crown Castle Corporation ("CCC") has proposed to amend Village zoning laws to allow for the installation of DAS technology in Scarsdale. For simplicity's sake, in this statement, the entity that is proposing these changes is consistently called CCC. The original corporate applicant was Next G, which was acquired by CCC shortly after the initial application was filed.

A DAS system is different from traditional wireless facilities that are typically located on tall cell towers. DAS uses smaller wireless antennas, sometimes referred to as nodes, that can be installed on existing or new utility poles, such as the Con Edison or Verizon poles that stand in the right of ways ("RoW") along roads, or on existing monopoles, building roofs, or other structures. CCC builds and installs DAS infrastructure, including the antennas and fiber connecting the antennas, for the delivery of broadband services. CCC leases its DAS infrastructure to wireless providers.

Under the existing zoning code, a wireless telecommunications facility cannot be located within 350 feet of "the nearest dwelling unit, school, day-care center, or place of worship as measured from the base of the support structure." Scarsdale Village Code Sec. 310-79D(2). CCC seeks to distinguish DAS from other wireless facilities and to allow installation of its nodes within the Village RoW.

Federal law governs telecommunications issues. Local municipalities are barred from prohibiting an entity's ability to provide telecommunications services on any basis that discriminates between one entity and another with respect to the management of the local RoW or the regulation of the entity by means of other police powers. New York State law provides that a utility company must seek the consent of the local government to use the RoW. CCC has registered itself in New York State as "facilities-based provider and reseller of telephone services" and, as such, is claiming the right under federal law to be able to install its infrastructure in the Village RoW.

There are many other federal and state laws and standards that are implicated by any proposed amendments to the zoning code that would involve DAS technology. As is obvious, this is a complex issue that has already been extensively studied by the Planning Board and continues to be studied. The following is a brief chronology of what has taken place to date.
-- In late 2010, CCC approached the Village with a proposal to install DAS facilities within the Village RoW. Because this proposal did not meet the 350 foot distance requirement in the Village code, the issue was tabled. In late 2011, CCC submitted a proposed amendment to the zoning code to allow the installation of DAS technology within the Village RoW. This proposed amendment was submitted to the Village and considered by the Village Board on February 13, 2012. On that date, as is the case with all proposed amendments to the zoning code, the Village Board referred these proposed amendments to the Planning Board for review and recommendation.
-- The Planning Board first considered the referral of the proposed amendments at its March 21, 2012 meeting. At that meeting, CCC representatives made a presentation about DAS technology, the proposed amendments to the code, and its intention to seek to install DAS nodes at 15 locations in Scarsdale. In response to this presentation, the Planning Board sought additional information from CCC and decided to schedule a separate work session, which was then held on May 7, 2012.
-- To assist the Planning Board in understanding the framework of federal and state laws that are implicated by this proposal, the Planning Board requested the assistance of an attorney who specializes in telecommunications law. The Village retained Mr. Joe Van Eaton of Best, Best & Kreiger, to advise the Planning Board.
-- At the May 7, 2012 work session, Mr. Van Eaton explained the applicable laws and issues to the Planning Board. Mr. Van Eaton's presentation is available on the Village website. CCC representatives also spoke at the meeting. The Planning Board then requested that the Village retain an engineering firm to evaluate the wireless coverage and the potential to use existing sites for the DAS nodes without amending the zoning code. The Village retained Columbia Telecommunications Corp. ("CTC"), a firm with extensive experience advising municipalities in wireless matters.
-- CTC submitted a report dated December 12, 2012, that was transmitted to the Planning Board in January 2013. A copy of CTC's report is also available on the Village website.
-- On February 13, 2013, the Planning Board held another work session at which Mr. Lee Afflerbach of CTC presented CTC's report. Mr. Van Eaton made a second presentation, and this presentation is also available on the Village site. At the end of the meeting, the Planning Board requested that Mr. Van Eaton inform them of policy options and draft specific zoning language, which the Board could review at a future work session, that is anticipated to be scheduled later this spring.

Without notice to the Village about their activities, over a period of some months up to February 2013, CCC installed five DAS antennas on locations on New York State RoW:
Rte. 22 at Edgewood Road Rte. 22 at Richbell Road Rte. 22 at Rugby Lane
Rte. 125 at Secor Road
Rte. 125 at 60 Palmer Road.

According to CCC, these installations are in lieu of five specific locations that it had requested in the Village RoW. When the Village learned of these installations – through the complaints of residents – it requested that the New York State Public Service Commission determine whether CCC's actions comply with New York State law and with CCC's Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. If these installations are not in compliance with the law, Scarsdale will have the opportunity to seek a remedy. Scarsdale will also continue its careful review of the proposal to amend the zoning code. As has been the case with all Planning Board meetings and study sessions to date, future meetings about the proposed amendments will be publicly noticed and publicly held. In addition, no amendment to the Village Code can take place without a public hearing before the Village Board. Residents have spoken at the meetings that have already been held and are welcome at all future meetings.

The email correctly notes that federal law expressly prohibits municipalities from considering health concerns when determining whether to allow a telecommunications installation. However, aesthetic guidelines, including the appearance of any antenna, equipment, newly installed poles, height, and separation of nodes and poles, may be addressed through local zoning. Additionally, under existing law, all wireless installations require a Special Use Permit from the Planning Board. Applications for such permits are all publicly noticed and considered at public hearings. Factors that are considered by the Planning Board in issuing such Special Use Permits include what, if any, coverage gaps exist in Scarsdale for any wireless provider that seeks to install antennas or related equipment. Even if the zoning code were amended to permit DAS installations on the Village RoW, applications for each such installation would require the same notice and public hearing process that presently exists.

In short, the process triggered by the proposed zoning amendments related to DAS technology is ongoing and any decision-making by the Village Board will only occur after the issues raised have been fully vetted and comments from all parties have been heard and taken into account.

Details

Published: 16 April 2013

Created: 16 April 2013

Last Updated: 19 April 2013

Hits: 5333

This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by Lika Levi of Lockwood Road on April 16 and published here with some editing by the site administrator: Dear Editor: I continue to be concerned for the fiscal as well as the physical well-being of our dear Village that once was known as Village-in-a-Park. We may soon ask, "Where is the park? Where is the open space, where are the trees, where are the beautiful stately homes basking in the shade of age old stately trees? Where is all this? Where are the homes built in 1925, dignified, reserved, quietly elegant, understated?" They are all going one by one: just attend any of the meetings of the so called Committee for Historic Preservation. They approve demolitions.

In spite of so called regulation, buildings way too big for their lots are going up everywhere in our Village, just drive on Rock Creek Lane or even closer, look across Village Hall on Crane Road where instead of a historical building that was once there, now two big McMansions are reminders there of the inadequacy of our building regulations. Be present at any meeting of the Panning Board or the Board of Appeals if you need more examples, any month. Or, better still, to receive their agendas add your email address to the list serve from Village Hall.

Every mechanism seems to be here to regulate and stop such insult and yet every regulation everywhere is ineffective. They say democracy is not a spectator sport; this adage seems very relevant today in Scarsdale. Our history, our environmental values, our architecture, our neighborhoods, our trees all are up for grabs to the highest bidder every day at Village Hall. It is a very busy place.

Our volunteer and professional staff work long hours to safeguard our interest, and yet the developer seems to have the say at the end of the day. There are now drainage basins everywhere, wetlands are being built upon, lots subdivided, a real building boom going on in Scarsdale as lots are being divided every which way, boards approving all that come their way and the average tax paying citizen left in the cold of the harsh reality that our village is degrading our life-style deteriorating. There is now even a sewage tax imposed above and beyond all the other raises in our taxes above the CPI (Consumer Price Index) of course.

Nobody moved here to see more buildings or fewer trees. We moved here for nature, for our freedom, for the schools, for the bird calls, for the rabbit we see occasionally in our yards. Yet, these building practices are creating habitat loss right here in our backyards even as I write this. When the developer's backhoe hits the ground, it is the executioner's song. Turning a blind eye makes us robots. A Silent Spring (by Rachel Carson) is in the works.

Even though there is One Palmer going up at the intersection at Heathcote Five Corners, a huge monster, 2-4 Weaver Street is being planned. It is again on the Planning Baord agenda, this time as the first item on agenda for April 24th at 8:00 p.m. Their proposal is to add further insult to the injury: a building more than three times the size of One Palmer, this while selling village land at bargain price or no price.

While our taxes are going up: both school and village, while our roads are full of pot holes, while there is no provision to add to our green space to make more parkland... while the rest of the world is crying out, screaming about global climate change, carbon footprint, in the aftermath of Sandy and obvious repercussions of our damage to our environment, Scarsdale, the suburban community that first passed zoning laws in 1925, is now in 2013 building like no other.

If you think this is not right, if you would like to see a stop to this conquer and plunder mentality, please come to the meeting at Village Hall on April 24th at 8:00 p.m.

Let the Planning Board know the only alternative to 2-4 Weaver Street is not to sell village land, but to acquire more to make a park there at that same location. After more than five years of negotiation that I know about, countless hearings, many emails, it is time we put a stop to this continuous aggravation. Nobody has the time or the energy to deal with this over and over again, year after year, board after board. We are bored, frankly. The zoning at Heathcote Five Corners has to be updated so we do not face such monstrous proposals any more, ever.

Planning at every level has to plan for a better Scarsdale, not a worse one. Laws, regulations need to be revised, updated. The FAR reduced, commercial area zoning updated to give way to less building, more green space. We cannot be writing Scarsdale's death sentence at every land use board meeting. Yet, this is precisely what is happening over and over again at meeting after meeting, despite of many letters, many objections from activist and concerned groups and individuals alike.

After the monstrous One Palmer, hideous 7 Popham, colossal Christie Place, we need a park, and none other than a park. I would love to have One Palmer razed, and a park made there as well.

The only acceptable solution, now is to acquire 2-4 Weaver by eminent domain and let this community have the park it deserves and sorely needs. Residents who have been here longer than I remind me there was once a plan to make a parking lot at De Lima, and another parking lot at Chase Park. In 2013, it is time for a park at Heathcote Five Corners.

I hope readers of this site agree with me and support me. We need your input. Please contact me and let me know you agree with me.

I would love to see many of you at the meeting on April 24th at 8:00 p.m. in Rutherford Hall. 2-4 Weaver is the first item on the agenda. If you cannot make it to the meeting, please e-mail me at [email protected] with " Scarsdale" in the subject line and I will add your name to the list of concerned citizens wishing for reform in our building codes. Email me your comments or call me at (914) 722-0004.

We have to stop this and let our government know we do not approve of these deleterious practices.

Remember, "Democracy is not a spectator sport." Tomorrow is too late, call or e-mail me today.

Lika L. Levi
Lockwood Road

Photo credit: Lika L. Levi

Details

Published: 01 April 2013

Created: 01 April 2013

Last Updated: 01 April 2013

Hits: 3538

This week marked the changing of the guard at Scarsdale Village Hall. On Wednesday March 27, the outgoing Board had a celebratory dinner before their last Board of Trustees meeting when they both roasted and lauded outgoing Mayor Miriam Flisser and one-term Trustee Bob Harrison. Though Harrison fought for years to earn a seat on the Board of Trustees, after his initial two-year term he opted not to run again. Mayor Flisser completed four years as a Village Trustee, immediately followed by two-years as the Mayor of Scarsdale, serving the Village for a six years and remarkably never missed a meeting.

On Tuesday March 19, Trustee Robert Steves was elected Mayor and two new trustees were elected to fill Harrison and Steve's positions on the Board of Trustees.

At the final BOT Meeting, Mayor Flisser called the accomplishments of this Village Board "remarkable," and listed the following projects that had been implemented during her term on the Board:

Infrastructure:

• Fox Meadow Drainage Basin Project at George Field Park and Cooper Green
• Planning for the Sheldrake River Project
• Ardsley Road Pump Station
• Modernization of Reeves Newsome Pump Station
• Opening of Public Safety Building
• Planning to Modernize Fire Station #1

Legislation:

• New code regulating the installation of permanent emergency generators
• Revision of neighborhood notification law

More:

• Beginnings of changes in the building and engineering department
• Expansion of rain garden
• Leaf mulching demonstration
• Publication of the Historic Resources Survey
• Emergency notification System
• Beginning of Village-Wide Tax Revaluation

She ended by saying that "all of these require continued diligence" and wished the Board "the greatest success."

In remarks about Bob Harrison, Trustee David Lee credited Harrison with "long and fruitful devotion and service to Scarsdale." He noted Harrison's "tireless advocacy and outreach to residents and said, "your passion for Scarsdale's betterment runs to your very core." He called the Mayor's work on behalf of the village "outstanding" and complimented her on the "enormous energy" she brought to the job. Flisser "made sure that every resident communication to the board was answered, and promptly replied to phone calls all "while maintaining a full time medical practice."

Stacey Brodsky told Harrison that she was "consistently impressed with the number of people he counts as friends," and cited his work on the personnel committee where he conscientiously reached out to dozens of people to encourage them to apply for positions on Village Boards and Councils." She congratulated him on two years as a Village Trustee and three decades of service to Scarsdale.

She complimented the Mayor on her passion, conviction and great love for the community and thanked Flisser for her commitment to process and open dialogue.

Jon Mark called Harrison the Cal Ripkin Jr. of community engagement due to Bob's claim to have attended 3,000 community meetings. He cited Bob's willingness to debate issues, reach consensus and find workable solutions.

He told Mayor Flisser that she "finds herself at the end of the road of a long term of civic service and listed much of the work that had been done in the last six years. He invited her input in the future but also wished her well in her next endeavor.

In her remarks to Harrison, Kay Eisenman reviewed two definitions of the term "gadfly": the first is "a person who is an irritant or who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions," while the second definition refers to one who does "honorable work or civic duty."

She said, "Perhaps the most famous of gadflies was the philosopher Socrates: During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. Socrates said "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because, as he said, his role was, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."
She said that Bob had lived up to the second definition and "kept us on our toes." Referencing Bob's tendency to challenge she said, "you were always courteous in your disagreements."

Eisenman referenced her shared past with Mayor Flisser. They both came from families of World War II refugees and together attended NYU's Heights Campus. She praised Mayor Flisser on her "unfailing commitment to her office" and said that the Mayor "deserves our praise and our thanks."

To Bob Harrison, newly elected Mayor Bob Steves said, you have "shown a deep concern for the community and you have been heard. We haven't always agreed. But we have been prodded and pushed so that we don't settle into a point of view."

He complimented Mayor Flisser on "enthusiastically and energetically embracing the role of Mayor." He added "To be a true public official there has to be a depth of concern for the community."

Moved and choked up Bob Harrison then offered comments to each Board member as well as his wife Terry to whom he said, "It's been 44 year and we are still married."

Unable to stop himself, Steves interjected, "that's because you went to 44 years of meetings!"

Harrison encouraged David Lee to continue to investigate $600,000 in overtime at the fire department and thanked Stacey Brodsky for working with him on the Personnel Committee where they filled over 70 vacancies on Village Boards and Councils. To Kay he admitted that he would prefer to be called "Citizen Bob" than the "Village gadfly," and thanked her for work on sustainability and municipal services.

At that point the Mayor wielded her oversized gavel to tell him he had run out of time, but that didn't stop him.

He continued by saying he "could talk about Jon (Mark) all night," and told him not to "worry about the triple A bond ratings." He apologized to Bob Steves for "asking too many questions" and said, "I know you will be an excellent mayor and do an excellent job."

To Mayor Flisser Harrison, said, "You have responded to some and been badgered by some and you were cool. You cut some ribbons. I always admired your background of being born in a DP camp to holocaust survivors and coming to America, the land of the free. You worked your way up to become a wonderful pediatric doctor, a trustee of the village and the mayor. What a great life – congratulations!"

Mayor Flisser again thanked each Board member individually and then gave a shout out to her husband Harvey, who "took the pictures and documented everything we got done."