Group Alleges Conspiracy to Push Through Cell Tower

A group of seventeen citizens from Wading River, New York have filed suit against several parties including the Town of Riverhead and the Wading River Fire District alleging a conspiracy to deprive them of their civil rights by pushing through a cell tower project without providing affected neighbors notice and the right to be heard. The suit was filed today in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The suit claims the defendants skirted notice requirements leaving nearby residents without the opportunity to voice their concerns about the project. Quoting from the complaint:

• This action has arisen to as part of a disturbing trend within New York State, wherein cell tower development companies who seek to install the most intrusive of cell towers adjacent to residential homes – knowing that adjacent property owners have the right to oppose zoning applications for the approvals of same – conspire with local government officials to intentionally circumvent those property owners’ rights to be heard at public hearings before their local zoning boards.
• For First Amendment purposes, public hearings before Zoning Board of Appeals are statutorily designated public forums established under New York State law which are required to take place for the specific purpose of affording property owners who might be adversely impacted by the granting of a variance for a specific use or proposed structure, with both notice, and the ability to voice their objections to proposed projects which would adversely impact their respective homes.
• In this case, a site developer, defendant Elite Towers L.P., seeks to install a massive twenty (20) story, two hundred and thirteen (213) foot tall cell tower a mere fifty feet (50) from the home of plaintiffs Joanne Romano and Foster Romano, while the homes of the other plaintiffs herein would be situated as distances from 195 feet to 490 feet from the tower, if it were to be built.
• As set forth herein below, this not only violates multiple provisions of the Riverhead Zoning Code, but it would place the Romanos’ home well within the fall-zone of this massive tower if there were to be a structural failure of the tower, in whole or in part.
• The proposed tower would also expose the Romano’s home to the additional dangers of ice fall and debris fall, while also inflicting severe adverse aesthetic impacts upon their home and those of the other plaintiffs, and would reduce the monetary value of their homes.

The complaint alleges that at the behest of the developer, the town failed to provide statutorily required notice for three variance hearings necessarily for the project to move forward. The plaintiffs allege a violation of their First Amendment Rights, a conspiracy to violate their civil rights, and state law violations. The suit seeks an injunction to block the project from moving forward, damages and attorneys’ fees.

Here is a copy of the complaint: