As predicted in this space last year, the siting of towers and other structures to hold cellular phone antennae is an issue which has grown around Long Island. In Massapequa, Herricks and several other communities, citizens are upset about proposed or erected towers and the apparent impotence of village and town governments to do anything about it.

Long Island is at the tail end of this battle. Since enactment of the horrific Telecommunications Act of 1996, upstate communities, particularly in the beautiful Hudson Valley area, have had near-violence in the streets as towers started going up and local boards found themselves gelded by what was supposed to be our own government.

On Long Island, the first tower sitings were easy and attracted little public attention. There was a ready market for locations on top of our many water tank towers. Many water districts have specifically dedicated cellular rental revenues to the skyrocketing costs of periodic tank repainting. But recent cell tower proposals involve filling coverage gaps in less populated areas and allowing second-generation companies to break into markets, so towers are being proposed for locations that aren't so out of the way.

The 1996 law was more than the infamous $70 billion giveaway of our public airwaves to irresponsible broadcasting moguls. It was more than the act that allows cable companies to sell you Internet service. It was also a message from Congress and the President that making money off the exploding cellular industry was their own province and local officials should keep out. Congress and the President collected the campaign donations. We got the towers.

At first glance, the law allowed local governments to continue to regulate the placement and construction of these towers, but the fine print actually hamstrung traditional zoning powers. For example, public health concerns of any kind can not be the basis of any local government decision, and no decision can give any one company an advantage over the others, which severely limits actions. Some cellular companies sue at the mention of local government action. An entire cottage industry has sprung up to aid companies in placing equipment and there exist catalogues of every tall structure in each community.

Local governments have maintained the ability to address some aesthetic issues and to encourage placement of equipment on existing towers and on public land where it's generally out of the way. But these laws are hard to construct because of the constant litigation and they have to be adopted before any controversy. The legal resources of any one cell carrier dwarf those of almost every municipality in the state. Most villages give up.

Ironically, one of the issues that all local governments should address is what to do with the towers when current technologies are outdated and many carriers have gone out of business.

There's your legacy, President Clinton. Forget cigars and pardons and the other claptrap. To me, he'll always be President Ugly Cell Tower.

Michael Miller was formerly Director of Public Affairs for the Town of North Hempstead. He is a public relations consultant.