To the Chairperson and members of the Town of Rochester Planning Board:

We the undersigned, residents, business owners, neighbors and visitors, ask that you require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) concerning the proposed Verizon cell tower on Granite Road in Accord. After many months of reviewing this project, it appears that building a massive 14 story industrial cell tower in a residential neighborhood will have significant adverse impacts on our environment, property values and community character, as well as our world-renowned scenic viewshed along the Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway corridor on Route 209 and Route 44/55, which includes views of the Shawangunk Ridge and Catskill Mountains. 

The information that you have been provided by hundreds of local residents who have signed petitions, submitted letters, attended and spoken at public hearings is more than sufficient to meet the threshold under New York State law to require a full EIS that will consider impacts to the environment and community under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). That study will analyze in depth with independent experts how this proposed tower will impact our environment, wildlife, plants, the scenic viewshed that powers our local tourist economy (which brings over half a million visitors to our region each year for state park visits alone), and the community character of our town that makes it a place where we love to live and many of us raise our children.

Please vote YES on a Positive SEQRA Declaration that will require a full Environmental Impact Statement for the Planning Board to take into consideration before you make a final decision to reject or approve this cell tower.

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