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Cheektowaga advisory committee tables Verizon tower proposal pending balloon test
Summary
The town advisory panel voted to table a proposed Verizon tower at 760 French Road after the applicant scheduled a visual 'balloon test' for July 11; the applicant and staff said surrounding sites are over capacity and the new tower would provide relief. The DEC issued a June 11 letter saying no regulated wetlands are present on the site.
Chair (S2) and the Environmental Advisory Committee on June 24 voted to table action on a Verizon proposal for a telecommunications tower on property adjacent to 760 French Road, pending completion of a visual balloon test.
Mister Lusk, the applicant representative, told the committee the project is intended to relieve capacity constraints on two nearby Verizon sites — identified in the application materials as Blossom South and Gardenville — which he said are "routinely exceeding the maximum" that each facility can handle. "That's why the tower is placed where it is," Mister Lusk said, adding that the new site would split traffic to provide direct coverage and capacity relief.
The application materials presented to the committee variously described the proposed tower height as 109 feet (in the application summary) and 105 feet (in the applicant's later comments). Committee members requested a balloon test to evaluate visual impact; the applicant scheduled the balloon fly for July 11 with a rain date of July 14 and said it would post notice on the town website. "Only the balloon fly will show that," Mister Lusk said of visibility.
A staff speaker reported that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sent a June 11 letter superseding an earlier communication and stating there are no regulated DEC wetlands on the property. The applicant said it is completing an analysis of a suggested alternate location near a nearby airfield but that location would not provide the mid‑area capacity relief the project is designed to deliver.
Chair (S2) moved to table the item until after the balloon test; the motion carried with members voting in favor.
The committee directed the applicant to return with balloon‑test visual materials and additional engineering responses before the Environmental Advisory Committee takes a formal position.
