Authorizes the discontinuance of certain parklands in the town of Amherst, county of Erie

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why the sponsor says this is needed

On September 16, 2024, the Amherst Town Board granted permission to Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, LLC d/b/a Verizon Wireless to file a special use permit with the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals to obtain permission to construct a 115 foot tall Wireless Communication Tower on Town owned land at 1265 Smith Road. The parcel is designated as "Parkland" and is constrained by jurisdictional wetlands and has remained vacant since its donation to the Town. The Town of Amherst seeks to "Alienate" a portion of the parcel for it to lease such area to Verizon Wireless for the construction of its wire- less communications facility. Verizon's feasibility study has demon- strated that the subject Town owned land will meet its radio frequency coverage and capacity needs for a serious gap in radio service coverage for a portion of northeast Amherst. The Town of Amherst is aware of a gap in cellular communications in portions of East Amherst, as its resi- dents have expressed concern for lack of communications in emergencies, particularly for those residents which no longer have land lines for telephone communications. On October 16, 2024 the Town of Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals granted a Special Use Permit and necessary waivers to permit the construction of Verizon's telecommunications facility. The alienation process requires the approval of the New York State Legislature and the designation of alternative parcels as "Parkland" or the improvement of existing recre- ation facilities in a capital amount equal to the value of the alienated parcel. Land owned by the Town of Amherst of equivalent recreational suitability and value located at 70 Tupelo Lane, a recent Town acquisition for a proposed neighborhood park, will be substituted as parkland in its place or capital improvements to an existing recreation facility in the amount of the parcel's value will be made.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.