More than 770 people weighed in during Southold Town’s recent community survey regarding cellular service, and while many said they would prefer the towers to be concealed, most said that their top priority is better coverage.
Town Consultant Susan Rabold of Cityscape gave an overview of the survey results and discussed how the town’s zoning code update could dovetail with community needs at the Southold Town Board’s Sept. 9 work session.
Pictured Above: A lattice-style communications tower at the Southold Town Highway Department as seen from Peconic Lane.
“When you asked them to provide comments — any tower design and whatever works best was what the majority of the comments were saying,” said Ms. Rabold. “But it could just be that the people who really wanted coverage over concealment were really more vocal.”
Of those who left written comments “93 just wanted better connectivity and they didn’t care what it looked like. They just wanted better connectivity,” she added, but when asked to rate their preferences for specific types of towers, “the voting was predominantly for concealed sites.”
When the survey asked more nuanced questions about the types of cell towers people would support, the preference was for “visually mitigated and concealed facilities,” which include painted monopoles, unipoles and, the most popular concealed choice in the survey, “faux trees.”
Of the 773 total responses, 524 people said they would support a 199-foot tall lattice tower over a 144-foot tower if it meant the cell coverage would improve.
When asked on which types of properties residents would like to see these towers, “there was really not a lot of support for agriculturally zoned land,” said Ms. Rabold. “There was a lot of support for town property. Only 7.4 percent said ‘somewhere other than my neighborhood,’ which tells me people want coverage where they reside.”
Ms. Rabold said many respondents also expressed the need for reliable service to be able to call 911 in an emergency.
Ms. Rabold said there are currently 16 existing cell towers in town, 8 of which are unipoles. The majority are between 90 and 129 feet tall, she added.
“Your current code emphasizes aesthetics and scenic preservation,” she said. “It’s important to add into the goal the priority for coverage for public necessity and safety,” she said.
Ms. Rabold said that, while the town’s current code caps the height of towers between 45 and 80 feet, “there was definitely support for taller towers, both concealed and non-concealed.”
The town first adopted its wireless communication facilities code in 1997, and updated it four times between then and 2010, and many existing poles predate the height restrictions currently in the code.
Currently, the town requires potential cell tower developers to receive a special exception permit and site plan approval from the town’s Planning Board, but she recommended the town “consider an administrative approval that meets the criteria of the revised code, without having to go through the special exception process.”
Town Planning Director Heather Lanza said the Planning Board now evaluates the special exception permit in a manner similar to their site plan review, but an administrative permit could be done with planning staff without going through review by the Planning Board.
“Planning can certify it for the Building Department and make it a simple process,” agreed Town Councilwoman Jill Doherty.
Town Supervisor Al Krupski added that the height of the towers would naturally be limited by the size of the lot, based on the fall zones — the area surrounding the pole in which no structures can be built, and setbacks from the property line dictated in the code.
“I would like to move this forward. It is a matter of public safety,” said Mr. Krupski, adding that, when towers are in place, no one notices a difference of 20 or 30 feet in height from the ground.
Town Attorney Paul DeChance added that preference in the new code should be given to placing the towers on municipally owned property, which would include the town, fire districts and park districts.
The board was generally supportive of asking Ms. Rabold to draft new cell tower code that could be folded into the existing town code and updated for the zoning update, which is expected to be finalized in early 2026.
Ms. Lanza said she anticipates the results of the survey will be posted on the town’s Zoning Update website. They can currently be found in town records here.
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