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New York Town Passes Law to Curb Cell Tower Construction

Article Comments  43  

Sep 24, 2010, 7:27 AM   by Eric M. Zeman

The town of Hempstead, N.Y., has unanimously passed legislation that makes it extremely difficult for wireless companies to build new cellular towers within the community. The law states that no new towers can be built within 1,500 feet of homes, day care centers, schools and houses of worship. In order to get around the law, cell companies would have to prove that there is a dire need for cell towers in the area in question. Federal law prohibits municipalities from blocking cell tower construction for health reasons, and though Hempstead residents admitted to weighing that as a reason, the basis of their legislation is founded on quality of life issues. Kate Murray, supervisor of Hempstead, said the law gives its residents "real protection against the siting of cell towers and antennae in locations that would adversely impact home values or the character of local neighborhoods." Verizon Wireless spokesperson David Samberg told the Associated Press that Verizon has encountered opposition in nearly every town it's tried to build cell towers. Hempstead is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City. It has a population of 759,000.

Associated Press / WirelessWeek »

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SUMC_MEAD

Sep 24, 2010, 8:19 AM

No Cell towers = Bad service...

Duh! Let's stop and think.. hmm...with out cell towers there can't be good signal...without good signal people get dropped calls then they bitch and moan. I think a cell tower in your back yard would increase the value of a home rather than bring it down. You know that you will have excellent service in your house
You sir, get my thumbs up for the day.
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Yup. The same yuppie D-bags where I live did the same thing. They claim their houses are to "historic" and cell towers are to "ugly". But, those same people come to me and bitch because there iphone doesn't get service... Come on people seriously??? I...
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Think about it this is the big chance for carriers to push airwave!!!. They can let the customer know about this law and then sell airwaves like hotcakes!!

I hope this law applies also to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx.
The main complaint against cell towers is that they 'tarnish' the landscape. What BS! In case anyone hasn't noticed, they're now easily camouflaged. I see them being dressed up to look like trees everywhere. Even the antennas on them are painted g...
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having a tower in your backyard would greatly depreciate the value of a home. no one wants that crap in their private yard. now, the issue will be people getting shoddy service, no towers = no service. so well all just have to wait for these morons...
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They are all for using wind power, but you will come up with the same legal action if you want to add a wind vane/turbo/thingy.

Not In My Back Yard 👿
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...you're bluecoyote and it's a Verizon tower that just went up! 😛
ChipDaFone

Sep 26, 2010, 12:19 AM

Customer complaints

Man or Women walk into a phone store and complain. My phone doesn't work in my house, or an my block. Salesperson says, yeah your town passed some ordinance making it difficult to build towers in your area. They said it would bring down the property value. Customer says "thats stupid", and leaves pissed. Same old story!
Correct!!!!!!
Especially on Long Island where most everyone believes they are Gods gift and their !!@XX*&!! does not stink!
🙄
NickyTwoTimes

Sep 24, 2010, 10:26 PM

Dismissing Health issues?

Let me sum up the health concerns about cell phones in one question. Would you really be shocked, surprised even, if twenty years from now we end up with tumors or infertility and all sorts of problems that end up being linked to our usage of cellphones? I'm not saying it will happen, but is it such a far fetched idea? Think about it, we are the guinea pigs for this technology, it's only been around, at most, for ten years (mainstream). This is the first generation to use these wireless devices. Get it now? Exactly..
I'm not one of those health nuts, but ever since I read about several European countries passing legislation that restricts the amount of towers companies can put up, coupled with American govt's history of pandering to...
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But we aren't guinea pigs to the technology. Radio has been around for over a hundred years.

Even the more extreme users of RF have not really shown any sign either direction.

"A variety of studies over the past 50 years have been done on wor...
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Here we go again, another tin foil hatter.

The word Radiation has a real bad rap. People run in fear when they hear the word.

Did you know your oven emits deadly amounts of radiation?

So does your barbecue grill (gas or charcoal, either one),...
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Well here's a really good guinea pig for you, Martin Cooper who invented the cellphone is well into his 80s, is pretty healthy for his age, and he has been around cellphones for AT LEAST 40 YEARS! Seems like a pretty good example to me. He's lived qui...
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PhonemanJ

Sep 24, 2010, 4:33 PM

This law will last unti....

the mayor or a councilman's wife or teenage daughter cannot use thier cell phone. The mayor or councilman will get so much grief from home that the will work hard to get it repealed.
Amen! NIMBY's don't want cell sites until they, their children, or other family are in emergency and can't use their telephone.
Yankees368

Sep 24, 2010, 10:23 AM

This is all MetroPCS's fault!

Thanks, MetroPCS. This is all their fault. Why? They just had to go install DAS nodes in peoples front yards all over Long Island. That was the tipping point that set this whole thing in motion. Agh!
Prove it!!!!!! 🤣
carlsberg

Sep 24, 2010, 4:13 PM

an idea

how about we just let towns like that rot.

its the year 2010 proper cell coverage should be a way of life. it is for safety too. are people forgetting james kim?

this probably offended people but oh well. just compare no cell coverage to the days you didn't have landlines.
wdfichtel

Sep 24, 2010, 9:12 AM

On the surface...

It doesn't seem that bad. After all, it's only 1500 ft, get outside that and you can build a tower...

Then I looked at the map. Hempstead is a densely populated community, existing in only about 9 square miles (not including South or West Hempstead or Hempstead Gardens, as I don't know if that falls under the same law). 1500 feet is roughly .28 miles. I can't find a single place looking at the map that a cellphone tower could be bult meeting this requirement. The next time I take a call with a service complaint from this area, I will be sure to mention this law and how it prohibits us from building additional towers...
I wonder if this law would also apply to micro cell towers. They have them all over Florida & California. Sure they cant handel as many calls, but you can have more of them spread throughout the city. to resolve that issue. And they are easy to hide.
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GettingSleepy

Sep 24, 2010, 12:53 PM

So What's the real reason for blocking the towers?

Or are they really that bad for your health? Yes they lower property value, so wouldn't what the owners of the tower pay to rent the land make up for that?
Ask The Shack

Sep 24, 2010, 7:58 AM

Long Island REPRESENT!!!!

That's all. 😁

Dumb idea in my oppinion tho.
They are doing it b/c Hempstead is a low-income, gang populated area. Besides the fact that there is no need for more towers in that area anyway.
 
 
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