Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell tower plan gets lift Albany-- Lake George location wins as town loses again on appeal

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 02:33:36 -0500

Cell tower plan gets lift Albany-- Lake George location wins as town
loses again on appeal
By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
First published: Friday, October 31, 2003

Cellphone service for thousands who hike, boat and camp on Lake George
got a major boost Thursday when an appeals court approved a plan by two
telecommunications companies to build a 110-foot tower on the lake's
east shore.
The go-ahead came from the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court
after Nextel Partners and Independent Wireless One Corp. (IWO), which
provides Sprint PCS service, challenged a decision by the Fort Ann Town
Board, which rejected a request for a use variance because they believed
it would corrupt the natural beauty of the area.

State Supreme Court Justice G. Thomas Moynihan Jr., annulled the board's
determination in March and the five-member appellate court affirmed the
ruling.

Approval must now come from the Adirondack Park Agency, which controls
development. An application has been on hold pending the outcome of the
court case, said Albany attorney Jacqueline Phillips Murray, who
represents the companies. If approved, it could take six to eight weeks
to install.

"The lack of service presented a huge safety issue, especially in summer
with all
the tourists," Phillips Murray

The tower, several miles up Pilot Knob Road from Route 9L, would consist
of a pole disguised as a pine tree with a 9-inch single cylinder antenna
on top.

"By disguising (it) as a pine tree, it will be substantially invisible
and indistinguishable from the surrounding mature trees in accordance
with the Adirondack Park Agency's tower policy," Phillips Murray said.
In May, the ADA approved 33 small cellphone antenna poles along a
66-mile stretch of the Northway, north of Lake George.
In the Nextel case, the appellate court wrote it "demonstrated that the
construction of a facility on the proposed site is necessary to provide
safe and adequate service," eliminate gaps and provide service where
none exists.
There is a tower on Prospect Mountain on the west side of Lake George
Village and smaller towers providing service to the village area. "But
the vast majority of the lake was unserved, and this will serve heavily
traveled and heavily used areas," she said.

The tower would shoot signals across the lake to campers on the islands,
to boaters and to hikers and travelers along Route 9N on the west shore.

Hudson Falls attorney Stan Pritzker said he will ask Fort Ann officials
if they want to ask the Court of Appeals, the state's top court, to hear
the case. Residents joined Fort Ann, whose jurisdiction extends along
part of Pilot Knob Road, against the tower.

"It's hard for a small town like Fort Ann to fight a giant corporation
like Nextel," Pritzker said. "They presented substantial evidence the
cell tower would have a negative impact ... a visual impact. This is a
pristine area."

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=185102&category=STATEOTHER&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=10/31/2003

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