ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
TO APPEAL DISMISSAL OF SUIT IN FRANKENPINE CASE, WILL PETITION
APA TO REOPEN PERMIT
Dismissal of Council's Lawsuit vs. Fake Pine Tree Cell Tower
Contained Errors;
Sprint/Nextel Merger Means Original Applicants for APA Permit
No Longer Exist
New Communications Options Are Available
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Sunday, January 22, 2006
LAKE GEORGE, NY - The Adirondack
Council today said it would petition the Appellate Division of
NYS Supreme Court to hear its case against the builders of a
proposed fake-tree cell tower (Frankenpine) on the eastern shore
of Lake George.
At the same time, the Adirondack Park's largest environmental
organization said it will petition the Adirondack Park Agency
to reopen the permit review in the Frankenpine case because the
two companies named in the permit don't exist anymore.
"We will file a notice of appeal with the Appellate Division
this week asking for permission to bring our Article 78 lawsuit
against the Park Agency in that court," said Adirondack
Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. "We believe
there were errors committed in the dismissal of our suit at the
Supreme Court level and we will respectfully seek permission
to bring out several points we made in our original petition,
which were never considered prior to the dismissal.
"At the same time, we will file a petition with the Adirondack
Park Agency, asking the APA to reopen the Frankenpine case, based
on the fact that the parties who sought the permit for the Frankenpine
tower no longer exist," Houseal said. "Throughout the
entire public hearing that preceded our lawsuit, applicants Independent
Wireless One and Nextel Partners insisted that they were not
directly affiliated with either Sprint or Nextel. The applicants
exploited this distinction during the hearings to avoid disclosing
how the merger would reduce their need for new towers and equipment
in the Lake George area.
"Now," Houseal added, "both entities have been
swallowed up in the Sprint/Nextel merger. This newly merged corporate
giant isn't named as the applicant for the Frankenpine permit,
so how can the Park Agency legally grant it to Sprint/Nextel?
We believe the APA cannot."
In September, the Adirondack Council filed an Article 78 lawsuit
against the Adirondack Park Agency, the landowners in the Town
of Fort Ann on whose land the tower would be built and the two
applicants. The suit alleged that the Agency had made an arbitrary
decision in July to allow the Frankenpine tower to be built,
after receiving clear evidence that the tower would harm the
natural character of the lakeshore and would cause increased
runoff and sediment in the lake and nearby wetlands.
The 104-foot-tall tower is proposed for the lakeside slope of
Pilot Knob peninsula, which juts into the lake from its largely
undeveloped eastern shore. The Council noted that the landscape
is an American icon, having been immortalized in the paintings
of several of the masters of the Hudson River School of Art,
as well as more contemporary artists, including Georgia O'keefe.
The Council was joined in its lawsuit by the local environmental
group PROTECT, as well as several residents of the Pilot Knob
neighborhood in Fort Ann. Both the Town of Fort Ann and the Lake
George Waterkeeper sought permission to join the Council, but
the case was dismissed before their petitions were considered.
The lawsuit came after the APA ignored a critical report from
its own staff on the results of the week-long, courtroom-style
public hearing in Fort Ann. At the hearing, the Adirondack Council,
its expert witnesses and others testified and its attorneys cross
examined the applicant's witnesses. The APA staff who attended
the hearing issued a strongly worded recommendation that the
permit be denied.
During the course of the hearing, the Council found and gave
to the applicants the names and locations of four existing commercial
buildings in the Pilot Knob/Bolton Landing area of the lake who
were interested in co-locating the Sprint/Nextel equipment. In
each case, the cell phone signal available from at least two
those locations was as good as, or better than, the site chosen
for the Frankenpine, Houseal said.
"It became clear to us then that they really didn't care
about providing improved service to Bolton Landing," Houseal
said. "They just wanted permission to build the first Frankenpine
in the Adirondack Park.
"We already live in a world with too much plastic and shabby,
prefabricated replacements for the natural features we have destroyed,"
Houseal said. "The Adirondack Park is a special place, where
we have resisted this trend for a century. We must continue to
do so. The future of the Park's economy, its viability as a tourism
destination and its quality of life for Park residents depend
on maintaining our breathtaking, natural scenery."
Houseal said he expected all of the papers to be filed in Supreme
Court and with the Adirondack Park Agency by January 27.
Meanwhile, Sprint/Nextel has made little progress in its bid
to win the approval of the APA's staff for the Frankenpine designs
they have presented. So far, the APA has reviewed and rejected
three Frankenpine plans, noting that their plastic needles and
PVC branches looked nothing like a real tree.
The Adirondack Council's mission is to ensure the ecological
integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. Founded
in 1975, the Council is a privately funded not-for-profit organization
with 18,000 members in all 50 United States. The Council carries
out its missions through research, education, advocacy and legal
action.
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