Vigilance Still Needed on Cell Tower Threat

Thank you for your continuing coverage of the Crown Castle/Verizon mini-cell tower invasion.

Although the Rye City Council voted on April 22 to deny the Crown Castle (a Verizon contractor) request to place an additional 64 towers on residential property, the struggle against this threat to Rye’s essential residential character is far from over. An environmental proceeding of unknown direction is now beginning. Crown Castle may sue.

The citizens involved in Protect Residential Rye Association, a 501(c)(3) organization, are encouraged by the Council’s move, after ten months of continued debate about the appropriateness and legality of installing these 64 cell towers in front of residents’ homes.  

Since June 2016, more than a hundred citizens have spoken at City Council meetings to oppose the Council’s granting Crown Castle/Verizon permission to install these nodes on residential property. Not a SINGLE Rye resident has stood up in favor of Crown Castle/Verizon’s expansion plans.  

Throughout the process, citizens acting through Protect Residential Rye independently have sought to protect the integrity of Rye as a sought-after residential community. We have invested our own money and raised money to hire legal counsel and technical experts to recommend alternatives to the Crown Castle/Verizon plan. Our efforts have been met by lack of engagement from Crown Castle/Verizon and no attempt to find alternatives to placing 64 additional towers in front of our homes.  

What is essential for all of Rye to consider is that, if the Crown Castle/Verizon plan is eventually approved, Rye may be powerless to control how many other cell facilities are placed on utility poles on residential land. It is possible and likely that three to four other carriers will also claim the right to place their equipment, antennas, and whirring fans on utility poles outside your home.  

Hence, this issue affects all of Rye, not only those citizens with the first 64 polls by their houses. We urge all Rye residents to remain engaged by doing the following:

1. Make tax-deductible contributions to Protect Residential Rye by sending your check to PRRA, PO Box 234, Rye, NY 10580. Without continued contributions, PRRA will be unable to continue to pay legal counsel and technical help to continue to see this through.

By opening the door to Crown Castle/Verizon, we may lose our ability to control how our city looks with damaging effects on our beautiful town, our enjoyment of it, our property values, and the legacy we leave for our children. 

Please join PRRA to ensure we are able to achieve a solution that benefits Rye, not just mobile phone carriers and tower construction companies.    

— Ariel Eckstein