Brookhaven orders removal of utility pole

Telecommunications company NextG Networks has 10 days to remove a 30-foot utility pole bumping up against the yard of a Mount Sinai family's home, Brookhaven officials said Tuesday.

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent John Rouse said the California-based firm erected the pole on a town right-of-way that abutts the Apricot Road property of Lori and Michael DiMarco without a required permit. The pole is part of a network of antennas designed to improve wireless service in the area.

Lori DiMarco said the pole has been near her property for three weeks, and she fears the impact it could have on her property's value. "We've been on a mad rampage to get rid of it," she said.

Robert Delsman, general counsel for NextG, denied the company erected the utility pole "in stealth." The company has attempted to work with officials to obtain the permit for nearly a year, but the town has not cooperated, he said, adding the company could not wait any longer and went ahead without the town's permission.

Rouse said the town is researching whether NextG has other unpermitted poles in Brookhaven.

The Mount Sinai controversy isn't the first time NextG has clashed with Long Island neighbors. The company, faced with pressure from Massapequa Park residents, agreed last month to shrink the size of nine pole-top transmitters used to provide enhanced MetroPCS service. In Merrick, residents filed a $100 million federal lawsuit - dismissed last year - against NextG and its antennas.

Other telecommunications companies have been the subject of complaints from Long Islanders as they have sought to expand service. In June, Terryville residents opposed T-Mobile's plan to build a tower near a fire department building.

The expansion of wireless service inevitably leads to conflicts between service providers and neighbors, said Dick Comi, founder of the Center for Municipal Solutions, which works with local governments on regulating communication towers, at a recent Brookhaven town board meeting.

"Everybody wants the service everywhere, they want it in their home, but they don't want to see that blinking red light in that tower when they look out their windows," he said.

The pole outside the DiMarcos' home does not have a blinking light, but the family wants it gone anyway. "It's not in character with the neighborhood," Lori DiMarco said.