Springs F.D. Cellphone Tower Permit Revoked

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4 to 1 this week to revoke a building permit for the construction of a 150-foot-tall communications tower behind the Springs Firehouse, on Fort Pond Boulevard.

Objections to the tower were widespread when it went up in April, leading to an appeal of a building permit issued by the Building Department. The original hearing on the appeal was held on Oct. 6.

The four Z.B.A. members who voted after midnight Tuesday to revoke the building permit made it clear that they were not opposed to the pole per se, but wanted it reviewed through the proper channels, most likely by the town planning board. They criticized the cellphone-services company that leased the land for the tower, Elite Towers, saying that it had mislead the Springs Fire District’s commissioners in suggesting the district was exempt from local zoning review. The district is to receive a monthly payment from the firm.

Exactly what will happen next is unclear. Although the tower exists, having been put up in April, the communications equipment intended to go on it has not yet been installed.

“We need to make sure our communications work,” Pat Glennon, the chairman of the board of fire commissioners, said by phone yesterday. He also said the commissioners had inquired with the town Planning Department, as well as its legal team, and had been given a verbal okay to put up the tower based on a 2004 determination involving the Amagansett Fire Department.

He pointed out that in addition to the tower’s use for cellphone communications, it was essential that new equipment be installed for the fire department because there are now numerous dead spots where volunteers’ pagers do not work. When asked if the department might take the Z.B.A. to court, he said, “It is an absolute possibility.”

In its deliberations Tuesday, the Z.B.A. had to consider two questions: first, whether the appeal was timely, and second, whether the Springs Fire District’s board of commissioners had taken the proper steps in approving the tower, which was built in April. The answer was yes to the first question, but no to the second. Don Cirillo was the lone dissenter in both cases.

Mr. Cirillo argued, as the department and their representatives had during the Oct. 6 hearing, that neighbors should have known a tower was to be built because it had been mentioned at 19 commissioners meetings, stretching back to early 2013.

However, Cate Rogers, a Z.B.A. member, argued that the Springs commissioners had not followed the open meetings law. Informal discussions should not be held when a quorum of a public board is present, she said, which appeared to be the case here.

She said the public could not have reasonably known the tower was being considered because minutes of commissioners’ meetings are not published, and the topic was rarely posted on its agendas.

She singled out three 2013 meetings, including one on Dec. 9. “None of this is on the agenda, and we are already moving onto the lease.” She added, “There is nothing transparent in this process.”

Mr. Cirillo, in a protracted back-and-forth, argued that anyone who moves next to a municipal building like a firehouse should assume expansion is possible. “It is incumbent upon you to check if something is going on,” he said. “I think there is enough on the transcript for an appeal,” Mr. Cirillo warned after the vote was taken.

On whether the commissioners had followed the proper process in applying for a building permit, the board found that state case law cites fire districts and fire companies as, generally speaking, being under the purview of local zoning laws. “I think they were led awry,” a Z.B.A. member, David Lys, said.

Ms. Rogers also criticized the commissioners’ handling of the State Environmental Quality Review Act. She read from the SEQRA handbook, noting that the commissioners couldn’t be both “the applicant, and the lead agency.” Further, she argued, the commissioners erred when they found, under SEQRA, that the tower had no adverse impact on the area. “Any structure exceeding 100 feet above ground level without zoning regulations pertaining to height is a type-one action,” Ms. Rogers said. In other words, the tower required much more detailed review.

“I want to reiterate the respect we have for the Springs Fire Department, all fire departments” John Whelan, the panel’s chairman, said after the board voted to rescind the building permit. “You just have to follow the process,” Lee White, a member of the board, said. Mr. Lys agreed. “You don’t want to slow down the fire department, but the proper process must be followed,” he said.