Flower Hill considers law on cell signal facilities

Luke Torrance
Flower Hill Mayor Robert McNamara has died at 76. (Photo courtesy of the Village of Flower Hill)

Flower Hill became one of a growing number of North Shore villages to consider updating its code concerning wireless transmission facilities during Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting.

“The reason we’re doing this is that North Hempstead and all the villages … have been approached with applications for wireless communication devices,” village Administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer said. “When we looked at our telecommunication law, it only really talked about cell towers, so we needed to update our law.”

She said the village went to the New York Conference of Mayors, which provided Flower Hill with examples of what other municipalities had done. She said these examples were merged into the law that was before the board.

Trustee Randall Rosenbaum asked if the fee for small cell permit application fees, which the law has at $500, was sufficient. Shatzkamer said this was more than what some villages were requiring but was not out of line with what other state municipalities were charging.

Additional fees include $1,000 per year for placing equipment on existing private utility poles, $1,500 per year for placing equipment on existing village utility poles, and $2,000 for constructing new poles.

Local Law H of 2018 is several pages in length, detailing the definitions for the components of wireless communication facilities and laying out the requirements that must be met before anything can be installed. Due to its length, the board decided to table the bill until the September meeting.

Most of the meeting was spent discussing the progress on roadwork around the village, which Mayor Robert McNamara said earlier this summer was a priority. Middle Neck Road, which is owned by the county, is about to have its repaving contract awarded. Shatzkamer said paving work on Port Washington Boulevard will likely begin in the autumn.

She also said that state Sen. Elaine Phillips, the former mayor of Flower Hill, received $6 million in grants that is to be distributed for public works in her district. Shatzkamer said the village hoped to secure $125,000 of that sum for roadwork in Flower Hill.

The meeting ended with the introduction of four laws, all of which will be discussed and possibly ratified at future meetings. Local Law I would not allow parking on Mason Drive within 125 feet of Dartmouth Road; Local Law J would allow decorative front yard fences only with the approval of the village Architectural Review Committee; Local Law K would amend the definition of structures so that flat patios meet the setback requirements of the zone they are in; and Local Law L adds walkways to the General Provisions section.

Reach reporter Luke Torrance by email at ltorrance@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 214, or follow him on Twitter @LukeATorrance.

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