Department of Transportation shifts plan for 120-foot telecomm pole to Hutch exit 7 in Pelham Manor

Photo location plan included in the DOT letter indicates location of telecommunications pole to be at exit 7 on the Hutchinson River Parkway.

 

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected because the Department of Transportation letter listed the wrong exit on the Hutchinson River Parkway.

The New York State Department of Transportation has moved south two exits and into Pelham Manor in its effort to put up a 120-foot telecommunications tower.

The new proposal shifts the tower to exit 7 on the parkway, the interchange with U.S. Route 1, said Lawrence Dean of DOT contractractor Crown Communications. (A DOT letter to Pelham Manor Village Manager John Pierpont listed exit 8 for the project, but Dean corrected that when he was told by the Pelham Examiner of a discrepancy between the letter and photo plans provided for the project.)

A previous proposal to build the tower at exit 9 of the Hutchinson River Parkway was withdrawn after significant push back from the community, including letters of opposition from then Pelham Mayor Michael Volpe, Pelham Manor Mayor Jennifer Monachino-Lapey, Superintendent of Schools Cheryl Champ and the Pelham Board of Education. The letters cited the pole’s proximity to the Pelham high school/middle school complex.

The project would be built by Crown, a New York subsidiary of Crown Castle International Corp., which is contracted by the DOT for telecommunications construction.

Because the land is governed by New York State, not the municipal government, the DOT does not require approval from the Pelham Manor government for the project. In a letter to Pierpont, Terrence Donoghue, DOT representative for Region 8, said his agency and Crown “welcome an opportunity to be placed on your board’s public meeting agenda to discuss the benefits of this telecommunications initiative.”

Same as the previous proposal, the monopole would contain New York State and Verizon Wireless antennas.

Donoghue said in his letter that the project would be at “minimal cost” to taxpayers.