The Planning Board claims that there is no cell service in the Springs. But they ignore these facts: a 180-foot tower at Camp Blue Bay and a 70-foot tower at St. Peter’s Chapel have been providing cell service since 2024. The Camp Blue Bay tower is just 0.9 mile from Elite’s tower and the St. Peter’s Chapel tower is just 2.0 miles from Elite’s tower. The Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) National Broadband Map certifies that there is now excellent coverage in the Springs. We know the FCC National Broadband Map is accurate because we live here, and we know we have cell service everywhere in the Springs.

Cell towers are a necessary evil. We already have 10 in Springs. But NO practical purpose is served by legalizing Elite’s tower except to ransack our bucolic, historic Springs hamlet.

The Planning Board also disregards the fact that at this very moment, nearly 200 “micro-antenna” (2-3 feet high) are being mounted in Springs and Northwest Woods on top of telephone poles along roadsides to close any gaps that remain due to topographical challenges: brick buildings, dense tree clusters, etc.

While Elite initially proposed that this tower would only be used for emergency services, a close reading of the record shows that its real objective was to use the tower to sell cell phone service to the public. Truth be told, this tower is a money-making venture for both Elite and the Fire Department. Of course, we have enormous gratitude for the selfless and brave firefighters who risk their lives to save our own. But the cost of the fire engines and related equipment and of maintaining their building and property are paid for by our property taxes. The revenues from Elite Tower’s lease payments to the Fire Department are not needed to pay for emergency rescues or for fighting fires.

The Planning Board has failed to address what, if any, improvements are needed to the Fire Department’s and first responders’ emergency communications in the first place.

Nor has the Planning Board calculated the minimum height necessary to improve RF transmissions if any such improvements were needed, or if such improvements could be achieved by co-locating at Camp Blue Bay and/or at St. Peter’s Chapel or on other towers in Springs.

According to Elite’s application, the lowest tier on its tower from which 4 wireless carriers will broadcast will be 70 feet above grade, a far cry from 150-feet. If the Fire Department truly needs better emergency communications, then why wouldn’t a 70-foot tower be sufficient in lieu of this massive 150-foot tower?

Section §255-11-1(I)(1, 2) of the East Hampton zoning code was amended in 2024 imploring zoning and planning officials to address the increasing frequency and intensity of weather events caused by climate change. The Planning Department recently required the new buildings at the Devon Yacht Club to be mounted on hydraulic pumps so that the buildings could be raised to keep pace with rising sea levels. But no such precautions were imposed on Elite’s application where the Fall Zone was sliced in-half from 2x to 1x the tower’s height.

The Board members are well aware of the increased risk caused by cutting the Fall Zone in two for they asked Elite’s attorney no less than six times at their meetings if Elite’s ten-year-old tower was state-of-the-art and could telescope into itself (and not topple over) under the stress of a nor’easter, hurricane, or other disaster. And on each occasion the attorney confirmed that the tower was state-of-the-art and could telescope. But Elite’s attorney is dead wrong because all cell towers are bolted together and none can telescope. We confirmed this with engineers and contractors and will have an expert testify that such is the case at the forthcoming public hearing.

It is important to note that the final time Elite’s attorney reassured the Board was at the November 19, 2025 meeting IMMEDIATELY before they voted unanimously to issue a Negative SEQRA Declaration (meaning the tower poses no material safety or environmental threats). As the Negative Declaration was the lynchpin for approval of this application (subject only to the public hearing), it is critical to point out that the Board’s decision is based upon the erroneous assumption that Elite’s tower will telescope in the event of a disaster. By issuing a Negative Declaration, the Board reversed the Positive Declaration it made on July 22, 2020 notwithstanding that the environmental issues posed by its tower are the same today as they were five years ago.

It is also important to point out that the plan under consideration requires that the existing tower be relocated to the very center of the firehouse property so that the 150-foot Fall Zone does not extend across the property line of any of the surrounding homes. But by locating at the center, the existing Fire Department building and the contiguous picnic tables will both be directly adjacent to the 150-foot tower. Both the building and the picnic areas are places of frequent and well-attended public assembly. Besides the firefighters, the building is used for voting during elections, and for weddings, and holiday celebrations. The picnic area hosts all-day parties and barbeques. The point being that the attendees at these events will have no Fall Zone to protect them in the event the tower collapses.

The Media have reported many instances of towers collapsing or catching fire or of equipment or materials falling during routine maintenance. For example, right here in Springs, in a rainstorm, the skin flew off the tower at the East Hampton Recycling Center on Springs Fireplace Road.

While the Planning Board is prohibited by the federal government from rejecting Elite’s application based on wireless radiation health risks, that did not stop the International Association of Fire Fighters from passing a resolution in 2004 denouncing the placement of commercial wireless telecommunications equipment at firehouses due to radiation concerns. (https://www.iaff.org/cell-tower-radiation/.)

The Elite tower contravenes East Hampton’s Comprehensive Plan for preserving scenic vistas and irreplaceable history. The mainstay of East Hampton is tourism. People come from all corners of the earth to partake of this sumptuous, well-preserved 1648 environment (that’s why we have no McDonalds or Burger King or car dealerships, etc.).

Gerard Drive and Louse Point Road surround Accabonac Harbor, plus, of course, we should include the Harbor itself and its pastoral, public beaches. All of these locations are designated as statewide areas of scenic significance and Elite’s present illegal tower looms over and desecrates all of them.

The East Hampton Planning Board rubber-stamped the “Protected Species Impact Assessment” included in Elite’s application. The report prepared by VHB Engineering (engaged and paid for by Elite) brazenly concludes this tower poses no threats to wildlife. This is ridiculous. The Springs is a veritable wildlife refuge. It abounds with Osprey and Bald Eagle nests. Turtles and endangered Eastern Tiger Salamander and Spotted Salamander flourish in the sandy pine groves and ponds in the Springs—such as Pussy’s Pond Park and the pine groves alongside Accabonac Harbor both of which are under a half mile from the Elite tower. Red Foxes, Eastern Cottontail Rabbits, Northern Long-Eared Bats, Coyotes and Monarch Butterflies are cherished inhabitants of the forests and wetlands in Springs. How can Elite possibly deny this? There is an Osprey nest today atop its tower at the firehouse.

Studies have found that cell towers lower property values 20% to 50% due to aesthetics and health concerns about wireless radiation.

Most residents living near the Elite tower drink well water pumped from their yards. If diesel fuel spills or leaks into the groundwater, residents could be poisoned.