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Residents and businesses question recent lease sale and urge stronger waterfront planning
Summary
Speakers at the April 13 meeting urged trustees to protect waterfront planning and reconsider recent lease sales; a tower operator said the Fenimore Tower lease assignment to Symphony may not have yielded best value and offered a competing proposal for Harbor Island.
Multiple speakers at the April 13 Board of Trustees meeting raised concerns about waterfront planning, recent lease sales and development proposals.
Trustees adopted a resolution to reconstitute the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) planning committee to update the village's decades-old LWRP; staff said the committee will include harbor/coastal commission representation and may apply for Department of State grant funding to complete a natural-resources inventory.
During general public comment, John Arthur (speaker 45), president and CEO of Wires Edge Towers, said he was surprised to learn that the Fenimore Tower lease had been assigned to Symphony and said his firm would have provided a higher competing offer for the Harbor Island lease sale. Arthur said the assignment limits his company's ability to extend leases and bring new wireless carriers to the site, and he urged staff to accept competing bids and meet with his firm to review options. He warned that selling long-term lease rights for lump sums can trade future revenue streams for a shorter-term payout.
Separately, residents (including Visara Soli, speaker 44) urged trustees to consider a village-wide moratorium on certain development until stormwater and build-out implications are fully understood. Soli cited multiple pending projects (including a Mount Pleasant Avenue proposal and a 4-story, 60-unit riverfront project) and urged stronger regulation to avoid long-term flood and neighborhood impacts.
Outcome: Trustees adopted the resolution to form the LWRP planning committee (resumes due end of May; appointments expected in June). Staff indicated they will follow up separately on lease-sale procurement questions and provide additional information to trustees about tax-exemption procedures and land-use recording practices.
