UPDATE After clearing a final legal hurdle last December, the long-planned Nelsonville, NY cell tower is finally under construction. Plans to erect a cell tower on Cold Springs Cemetery property stalled for years as objectors waged a series of battles to keep the project grounded. The most recent roadblock came to an end after Judge Gina Capone ruled that Homeland Towers can drive commercial vehicles on the roads leading to the proposed cell tower site even though it cannot dig up the road to install utility lines.
The road leading to the cell tower site has since been widened with gravel to allow construction and maintenance vehicles to pass through. Homeland Towers will be able to string lines on utility poles to reach the location. Once complete, the 95-foot tower will be disguised to look like a pine tree to better blend in with the cemetery setting.
Though some residents expressed their disappointment that the cell tower will share space with the historic burial place; others acknowledged the poor reception in the area would be improved by the communications equipment. “Yeah, the service is bad,” resident Kate Meisner commented to Altice USA’s News12 Network. “So maybe it will help.”
Residents like David Limburg conceded that after seven years of courtroom challenges, it had become too expensive to continue the fight against Homeland. Nelsonville Mayor Chris Winward said that the village is “very empathetic” to local concerns, acknowledging that “No one wants a cell tower in their backyard. However,” he added, “As you can see from the lengthy legal history, it is unfortunately out of our hands.”
Reader Interactions