The Town of Bedford Planning Board voted unanimously to give conditional approval for the construction of a 130-foot cell tower on land co-owned by actor Richard Gere.
The vote comes in the wake of a potential lawsuit filed from Verizon (NYSE:VZ) after the Planning Board previously rejected two proposals for local cell tower sites, despite a federal mandate to build a tower to cover service caps and upgrade communications needed by emergency responders.
The tower will be sited at the 14-acre Bedford Post Inn co-owned by Gere and real estate investor Russell Hernandez. However, some local residents objected to building the tower at that location, claiming it would be a disruptive presence.
“I think the Old Post Road site provides much better coverage to many areas of Bedford Village, especially where emergency responders have told us they need it most,” said Planning Board Vice Chairwoman Diane Lewis. “And so much more than either Stone Hill Road or Hickory Lane, this site is also much less visually intrusive than either of the other two.”
