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Planning Board declares lead agency for 145‑ft Homeland Towers/Verizon proposal; peer review ordered
Summary
Homeland Towers and Verizon proposed a 140‑ft monopole (145 ft with faux branches) at 180 South Bedford Road. The Board received RF and visual analyses, raised SEQRA segmentation concerns because the tower sits on the same parcel as a proposed solar farm, and voted to pursue consultant peer review and declared intent to be Lead Agency for SEQRA.
Homeland Towers and Verizon formally presented a proposed wireless facility at 180 South Bedford Road during the Planning Board’s Sept. 8 meeting. The project calls for a 140‑foot monopole designed to resemble an evergreen tree, with faux branches extending to roughly 145 feet, sited on the same 25‑acre parcel that is also the subject of a separate solar‑farm application.
Applicant counsel Robert Gaudioso (Snyder & Snyder) and Homeland regional manager Klaus Wimmer supplied a radio‑frequency justification prepared by VCOMM, an FCC RF‑exposure compliance report, an alternative‑sites analysis and a visual assessment prepared by Saratoga Associates. The VCOMM maps show that the proposed tower would improve coverage along Route 172 and into the southeastern portion of Mount Kisco and adjoining Bedford corridors, addressing gaps the applicant says are not served adequately by existing towers.
Board members and village counsel concentrated on three threshold questions: whether the proposed location had been reasonably tested against co‑location and alternative sites (applicants documented contacts and limits at Oakwood Cemetery, Guard Hill and other towers), whether the tower’s review could be segmented from the parcel’s solar‑farm application and whether the visual analyses were appropriately scoped (nearer residences in Bedford and other residents raised concerns about omitted sight lines). The applicant said the current site was selected after examining multiple alternatives and argued the two uses are independent; staff and counsel advised the Board that segmentation is a question of law and fact that the Board must resolve.
The Board voted 6–0 to declare its intent to be SEQRA Lead Agency for the Homeland/Verizon application and directed staff to retain technical peer reviewers (RF, visual/landscape and environmental) to produce an expert assessment and recommended methodology for any additional sight‑line analyses. Village Engineer Anthony Oliveri asked the applicant to add standalone stormwater and staging details on the tower site so the compound can be reviewed independently from any stormwater plan prepared for the solar proposal; the applicant agreed to add those details.
What happens next: The Planning Department will solicit a technical peer review and circulate staff comment letters; the Board will schedule follow‑up review and, if appropriate after peer review, a public hearing.
