This Is A Petition Created By Springs Residents Against Elite Towers (“SRAET”). Its Goal Is To Stop The Planning Board From Approving Elite Towers’ Application.

This tower at the Springs Fire Department has stood empty since it went up in 2015 because the Zoning Board of Appeals revoked its building permit. Thus far, the problem has been that the tower is an ugly eyesore. But if we fail to persuade the board at the imminent public hearing on January 14, 2026 to veto Elite’s application, we will face permanent life and death issues:

• Our Fire Department should know this because in 2004, the International Association of Fire Fighters passed a resolution denouncing the installation of cell towers on their properties because of cell tower health risks. Here’s the link to their resolution: https://www.iaff.org/cell-tower-radiation/. SRAET has a website at: https://www.sraet.org. This website includes links to trustworthy reports, including from the EPA and the U.S. National Toxicology Program that document cancer and other diseases are caused by the radiation emitted by cell towers.

This Tower Can Poison Our Drinking Water.

• The tower will have four wireless carriers bringing four separate diesel-powered emergency generators and four separate diesel storage tanks to the property. If diesel spills, it can poison the groundwater. There are 112 homes within a half-mile of the Springs Fire Department. Almost everyone in Springs drinks well water. Thus, nearly all of us could get poisoned if diesel fuel spills or leaks. The risk from contaminated groundwater is very real. In 2018, 110 homes in Wainscott were found to have contaminated water and were connected to city water on an emergency basis. In 2016, 450 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from an AT&T cell tower into the drinking water reservoir. Learn more about this incident here: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/02/22/450-gallons-diesel-spill-above-detroit-lake/80759708/.

This Tower Can Fall On You.

• In 2022, the Planning Board cut the Fall Zone from 2x the tower height to 1x making the tower much more dangerous. The Board did this despite the Town Code exhorting the Planning Department to ratchet up safety standards in light of the increased risks from global warming – including more frequent and violent nor’easters and hurricanes. The Planning Board repeatedly asked the attorney for Elite Towers if its tower would telescope into itself if stressed by high winds. Multiple times the lawyer told the Board the tower would telescope into itself if stressed by high winds. Immediately before voting unanimously to approve the tower, the Board concurred that because the tower would telescope in the event of catastrophic failure, the Fall Zone was irrelevant because the tower would telescope but never fall over. But contrary to Elite’s attorney, on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, Tanya Negron (owner of Elite) said at a meeting of Springs Citizens Advisory Committee (SCAC) that this tower CANNOT TELESCOPE because it is jam packed inside with equipment and because its sections are bolted together. Click this link to hear the 5-minute tape where Ms. Negron and SCAC members agree this tower cannot telescope: https://youtu.be/NSfTi3FefX8. It is crucial to note the Board based the 50% reduction in the Fall Zone on the false assumption this tower telescopes. Click this link to view the 150-second video of the Planning Board being told by Elite’s attorney that this 150-foot tower will telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsdDRLX9dRw.
• Towers Cut 10% To 20% Or More From Home Values.

• There are 112 homes within a half-mile radius of the proposed tower installation site. According to Zillow, the average home value is $1,774,489. A 10% loss of value equates to $177,000 and a 20% loss equates to $354,000. That’s a high price to pay for an ugly, unnecessary, and carcinogenic tower.

The Elite Tower Is Not Needed To Improve Cell Service Or Provide Emergency Communications.

• The Board’s complaint that cell service in Springs is deficient is old news. Late in 2024, the new 185-foot tower at Camp Blue Bay and the 70-foot tower at St. Peter’s Chapel went live. They have greatly improved cell phone reception. The FCC National Broadband Map is the most accurate measure of cell service across the United States. Except for sporadic gaps caused by brick buildings and thick clusters of trees, the FCC reports that cell coverage throughout Springs meets federal standards. The Town of East Hampton is, at this time, installing nearly 130 micro-antennae which are earmarked for Springs and Northwest Woods to fill any of the sporadic gaps in cell service. See the December 8, 2025 Newsday article here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nb0r_7J_5dpxdA85UEThsYF7vngy-B1c/view?usp=sharing. See the FCC National Broadband Map to view existing cell coverage throughout Springs here: https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/location-summary/mobile?version=jun2025&location_id=e0eb2bc0-068c-4298-9417-865b065dc794&addr1=179+FORT+POND+BLVD&addr2=EAST+HAMPTON%2C+NY+11937&zoom=15.00&vlon=-72.157936&vlat=41.026225&env=0&tech=tech4g.

All Cell Towers Have Bad Side-Effects. See A Sampling Below For A Non-Exhaustive List Of Cell Tower Incidents. Why Put Up With These Risks For An Unnecessary Tower? The Elite Tower Is Not Needed For Emergency Communications.

Cell Towers Damage Wildlife And Wetlands, Both Of Which Are To Be Protected Under The Town Of East Hampton Municipal Code.

• Elite hired VHB Engineering from Hauppauge whose report is included in the application under the Planning Board’s review. The report is rife with false statements. It says that the tower is not near any wetlands, but the tower is 1,959 feet from Accabonac Harbor and 2,417 feet from Pussy’s Pond. Towers devastate wildlife, birds in particular. In 2014, the U.S. Department of the Interior estimated that 6.7 million birds annually are killed from collisions with cell towers in the U.S. and Canada. The Department of the Interior also cites scientific studies that cell tower radiation kills nesting birds and their offspring. VHB’s report is replete with falsehoods which are made to support Elite’s application.

For all the reasons stated above, we implore the Town Planning Board to reject Elite Tower’s application to make this 150-foot industrial monstrosity legal. The tower is being shoehorned into a densely populated neighborhood and will be an eyesore in the protected Accabonac Harbor viewshed. Approval of this project will drastically devalue property, pose serious threats to public safety and wildlife, and shatter the splendor of the Springs hamlet that we love.

In order to defeat this life-threatening tower, we urge you to sign this petition and speak out against it. A public hearing to discuss the cell tower was scheduled for January 14, 2026 but has since been postponed. We will keep this petition updated as new information becomes available. Written comments may be emailed to the Planning Board at PlanningBoard@EHamptonNY.Gov.