Southampton Planning Board Selects Independent Reviewer for Proposed 160-Foot Cell Tower

SOUTHAMPTON -- June 3, 2026, Southampton Planning Board orders independent review of 160-foot cell tower application, hears broad opposition. At its June 3 meeting, the three-member board voted unanimously to engage Cityscape Consultants at a base fee of $6,500 to conduct a peer review of a special permit application from Atlantic Tower, LLC, an affiliate of Vertex Towers, to construct a 160-foot monopole wireless facility at 1 Cook Road, with Verizon Wireless as the proposed anchor tenant. Attorney Francis Parisi of Parisi Law Associates argued the tower meets all bylaw requirements except a height waiver, the Southampton bylaw caps towers at 100 feet, and warned the board that federal telecommunications law limits the grounds on which a municipal board may deny such applications. More than 57 residents signed a petition in opposition, and a letter from three East Hampton City Councilors, Tamara Smith, Connie Denham, and Kim Jamrock McQuaid, urged denial unless the applicant demonstrates no feasible alternative site exists; resident Elizabeth Hawley told the board that 111 East Hampton homes and 15 Southampton homes fall within 1,500 feet of the proposed tower. The board also voted 2-0-1 to release two lots on Gill Farm Way in exchange for a $30,000 cash surety while outstanding punch-list items, including grass seeding, berm repair, and stormwater maintenance, remain unresolved, with newly elected member Robert Riggs abstaining. The cell tower public hearing continues July 8 at 7 p.m. at Southampton Town Hall.