Sleepy Hollow cell tower would be disguised as a windmill

A 125-foot-tall cellphone tower disguised as a windmill will be built on Sleepy Hollow property as long as company and village officials can agree upon the terms of a lease.

Debates and heated discussions surrounding the proposed cell tower have been ongoing since 2015, when petitioner National Wireless Ventures LLC first introduced the concept as a way to improve cell service and data speed in the area.

Because cell towers are a permitted use on village-owned property, the company does not need a special permit to build it at its intended location behind the village hall and police station at 1 Thorobred Lane. But for the past year, the village board has been divided on whether to move forward with the aspect of the project it can control: A lease agreement.

Trustees this week voted 4-2 to direct village attorney Mark Schuster to respond to a lease offer from National Wireless, thus advancing deal negotiations. The move is significant, Village President Stephan Pickett said, because until this point, officials were still debating whether they should allow the company to rent the property at all.

National Wireless this week also presented trustees with a photo showing the cell tower could be built to look like a windmill. That design, Pickett said, would appear more natural to the surrounding area than a regular monopole.

"That's been one of the concerns is the appearance of the tower in that setting there at the village hall," he said. "When they offered to make it look like a windmill as opposed to a typical cell tower, that was a big help in getting consensus to move forward. That was pretty much the tipping point."

Trustees Dennis Fudala and Scott Finney voted against the measure. Finney, one of the tower's most vocal opponents, has echoed the concerns of several residents who feel it would tarnish the village's rural atmosphere.

Though the lease deal isn't final, Pickett said the cell tower is expected to put about $20,000 in the village's coffers each year. The tower will service QuadCom, which police Chief Jim Linane says will improve radio communication among officers and first responders.