Lake George to get Nextel tower

Lake George cell phone tower gets park agency approval

The Adirondack Park Agency on Friday approved Nextel Partners' proposal to build a 104-foot-high cell phone tower on Pilot Knob near Lake George.

The staff of the APA had raised objections to the tower project, but an APA committee on Thursday had recommended a vote by the full board. That vote Friday was unanimous.

The APA concluded that the tower "will be substantially invisible and not result in undo adverse impacts on the environment," said agency counsel Keith McKeever.

The proposed tower will also comply with the APA's policy on cell phone power construction, he said.

"We think it's going to be a good project," McKeever said.

Jacqueline Phillips Murray, a lawyer for Nextel Partners, said Friday's decision will mean that "much-needed wireless communications will be provided in the Lake George basin to residents, tourists and, more importantly, emergency personnel."

Some environmental groups raised alarms about the tower, and especially about Nextel Partners' plans to make it look like a tree so it would blend into the scenic backdrop of Pilot Knob.

Adirondack Council spokesman John Sheehan said the tower would still stick out. Camouflaging plans call for artificial needles to be attached around the edges of the tower, he said.

"It'll look like a toilet brush with its end stuck in the ground," Sheehan said.

Supporters of the cell phone project argued that it is needed to provide coverage in one of major "dead" spots for cell phone service in the sparsely populated region. They said that could be important when visitors have to summon emergency help.

Friday's APA decision means the cell phone project must still undergo a stormwater management permit from the Lake George Park Commission. Sheehan said that since the proposed site of the tower is only about 500 feet from Lake George, Nextel Partners may have difficulty showing that sediments and other pollution will not enter Lake George and a nearby wetland during construction of the tower.

Murray said Nextel Partners believes it is in compliance with the stormwater management permit requirements.