Cingular Wireless Seeks To Establish Levittown Cell Facility

Story by Chris Boyle. 

Cingular Wireless is seeking to open a Levittown-based wireless communication facility in the near future, and this week the cellular carrier had a meeting with the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals in an attempt to gain the approval to do so.  

Looking to take over the former T-Mobile Wireless location at 3601 Hempstead Turnpike, Cingular, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, presented several special exception requests to Zoning Board Chairman David P. Weiss, including the replacement of several pre-existing cell antennas located on the roof of the building.  

Attorney John P. Huber, representing Cingular, stated his client has worked hard to make sure that all Hempstead Town codes and requirements were met to ensure the Zoning Board’s satisfaction.

 “The building has six existing antennas on roof left over from T-Mobile Wireless,” he said. “We would have to replace three of the antennas to get them up to our standards, and add some additional equipment, such as a GPS device the size of a coffee cup. Additional equipment and devices, which were also on the roof when it was a T-Mobile location, would be moved to the basement instead.”  

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Huber called in a planning expert, who testified to the board that the changes brought about to the building by the replacement of the antennas would be “negligible” and would have no impact on the local residents.  

A cellular transmission expert was also brought in, who stated that cell signals emitted by the Cingular Wireless facility would be thousands of times below the maximum levels set by the Federal Communications Commission, and thus would present zero danger whatsoever to the surrounding community.

And finally, a real estate expert testified on behalf of Huber, stating that none of the changes proposed by Cingular Wireless to the 3601 Hempstead Turnpike building would negatively impact property values in the adjacent area.  

Huber stated that he had gone to great trouble to inform the surrounding residents of the proposed Cingular of the day’s hearing, and took the lack of any response as a good sign.  

“We sent out over 650 notices to members of the community, and no one showed up today,” he said. “I assume this means that no one who lives near the building is objecting to Cingular Wireless moving in.”  

The decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals on the requested special exceptions requested by Cingular Wireless is currently pending. Patch will report on the Board’s decision once it has been made.