Once again, residents in the Roslyn area have come against a proposed Sprint cell tower in their neighborhood. Last Wednesday, well over 100 people packed a hearing of the Town of North Hempstead Zoning Board to express their opposition to a proposed 120-ft. cell tower to be built on the east side of Shelter Rock Road, south of IU Willets Road in Roslyn.

No hearing on the tower took place at the Jan. 31 meeting. Instead, David Mammina, zoning board chairman, called for an adjournment of the issue until a more detailed public hearing could take place later this year. Mr. Mammina is hoping for a hearing in either April or May, but no specific date has been set. The chairman wants to have "ample time to have everyone notified of the alternate date." The board would also like to have area coverage maps drawn up, engineering studies made, and more specific plans about the proposed cell tower made available to board members.

Alfred Lammeto, an attorney for Sprint, said that the company has agreed to the adjournment decision; in addition, the company, he said, wants to meet with community leaders to both address their concerns over the tower and to suggest alternate sites for it. He agreed to a later meeting to give Sprint more time to prepare.

Last year, residents in East Hills battled with Sprint over that company's plan to install three antennas to an existing transmission tower near Rallye Motors on Northern Boulevard. Residents in the Appletree Lane section of East Hills worried over increased risks of breast cancer due to transmissions from such a site. They also cited possible decreases in property values, which opponents claimed usually accompany the building of such a structure.

The Village of Roslyn board of trustees eventually rejected Sprint's offer. Once that happened, the company quickly took legal action, filing a lawsuit, which they hope will overturn the BOT's decision.

When the BOT rejected the Sprint proposal, members cited violations in local setback requirement laws. They also claimed that Sprint had failed to demonstrate why an alternative site was not acceptable to them. The project was not turned down due to potential or perceived health risks coming from the antennas. The 1996 Federal Communications Act forbids local municipalities to reject such offers on those very same health risk grounds.

Going back several more years, residents in Roslyn and East Hills also opposed the construction of a proposed radar tower to be built by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Residents feared adverse health effects coming from the tower's electromagnetic radiation emissions. Politicians who opposed the tower included the mayors of Roslyn, East Hills, and Roslyn Harbor, plus the late State Senator Michael Tully, State Assemblyman David Sidikman, and Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Gulotta. Also opposed to the radar was consumer activist Richard Kessell, then a candidate for country executive, and now chairman of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). According to TONH Councilwoman Doreen Banks, Mr. Kessell now supports the proposed cell tower in Roslyn.