01/10/2025
A group of Wading River residents have filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the development of a communications tower at the Wading River Fire Department headquarters.
The civil lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of New York Dec. 31 against cell tower developer Elite Towers, Riverhead Town, Supervisor Tim Hubbard and individual town council members, and the Wading River Fire District, accuses the defendants of violating the residents’ First Amendment Rights.
The complaint argues the process undertaken by the Town Board to exempt the communications tower project from the zoning code was beyond its authority and illegal. It says the town improperly bypassed the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board when it gave the project a special exemption to zoning rules using the “Monroe Balancing Test” — a standard spelled out in a 1988 court case that can be used to exempt certain projects on government land, if the action is in the public interest.
MORE COVERAGE: Wading River comms tower gets Town Board OK, over protests of residents (https://riverheadlocal.com/2024/12/04/wading-river-comms-tower-gets-town-board-ok-over-protests-of-residents/)
The complaint accuses Town Board members of conspiring with the Wading River Fire District and Elite Towers to bypass the public hearing process necessary to allow the project to go forward.
“Through this conspiracy, and the overt acts taken in furtherance of it, these defendants violated plaintiffs' rights to petition government for the redress of grievances, and right to free speech, effectuating a complete and permanent prior restraint against the plaintiffs' exercise of such rights,” the complaint says.
The complaint also accuses the defendants of violating the town’s zoning laws. Certain requirements from which the project was granted exemptions, like setbacks and height limits, are meant to protect residents from adverse impacts — including “unnecessary reductions” to the value of nearby homes and the dangers of structural failures or debris falling from the tower, the complaint says.
The 17 plaintiffs are asking for the court to prohibit the communication tower’s construction and to nullify the decision of the Town Board to exempt the project from the zoning code. The complaint demands a jury trial, compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and other relief from the court.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of area residents by Andrew Campanelli of Merrick, who specializes in civil lawsuits against cell tower companies. In an interview Thursday, Campanelli said the residents will likely be filing a separate notice of claim and lawsuit against the Wading River Fire District “for several million dollars, for breach of fiduciary duty.”
“In fact, the fire district taxes the homes in its district and they extract money from them. And in exchange, their job is to protect those homes,” Campanelli said. “At a minimum, one would argue that if you're trying to learn to protect their homes, you can't take an affirmative step or affirmative acts which would destroy the value of their homes, which is exactly what the fire district did.”
The Town Board voted unanimously on Dec. 3 to exempt Elite Towers, Verizon Wireless and the Wading River Fire District from local zoning laws and allow the construction of a 190-foot-tall pole with cellular and communications antennas behind the Wading River Fire Department’s headquarters. The structure, whose height with antennas will reach 213 feet, is not permitted under the zoning laws of the site, which is right in the middle of a residential area.
MORE COVERAGE: Wading River comms tower gets Town Board OK, over protests of residents (https://riverheadlocal.com/2024/12/04/wading-river-comms-tower-gets-town-board-ok-over-protests-of-residents/)
The vote came over the objections of around two dozen Wading River residents, who petitioned and argued their points at three separate Town Board meetings (https://riverheadlocal.com/2024/11/09/wading-river-residents-voice-objections-concerns-about-proposed-190-foot-tower-at-fire-department/).
All five Town Board members, including one, Council Member Ken Rothwell, who is a volunteer firefighter and a member of the Wading River Fire Department, supported the cell tower in public remarks, arguing the benefits of the tower — including revenue for the Wading River Fire District, and improvements to cell service and radio communications in the area — outweighed the negative impacts the cell tower might bring.
The fire district and the police department have long struggled with inadequate radio and cell phone communications in the area, according to officials. The new, taller tower would vastly improve emergency communications as well as cell service in the area.
Supervisor Hubbard declined to comment on the matter because it involved litigation, and referred the matter to the town attorney’s office. Town Attorney Erik Howard also declined comment. …
A group of Wading River residents have filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the development of a communications tower at the Wading River Fire Department headquarters. The civil lawsuit…
