Tower Campaign

A proposal to build a 60-to-90-foot communications tower in Bridgehampton has touched off an anonymous campaign to fight it.

Southampton Town Councilman Steven Halsey said last week that the Town Board had already received five letters from residents voicing opposition to the plan, and that he had been told that residents had received unsigned letters urging them to contact the board.

Mr. Halsey said the town has received a building permit application to build the tower on a parcel owned by Ray Wesnofske off Maple Lane and Corwith Avenue near the Long Island Rail Road station.

Mr. Halsey said he did not know who the applicant was. Mr. Wesnofske is chairman of the Bridgehampton National Bank, a farmer, and the brother-in-law of Councilman James Drew. Mr. Wesnofske could not be reached for comment.

Who Is Applicant?

Employees of the town's building department were unable to track down the application and referred inquiries to Paul Houlihan, the chief building inspector. Mr. Houlihan did not return calls.

However, Mr. Halsey said that Mr. Houlihan had sent a memo regarding the proposal to Supervisor Vincent Cannuscio. Town law would allow the tower to be built if the property was zoned as a quasi-public-service-use district.

But the Town Board has placed a moratorium on applications under the law after several previous applications, including Vertical Broadcasting Inc.'s plan for a 350-foot tower in Noyac, caused outpourings of public opposition.

The town denied V.B.I.'s application last year, and one of the firm's owners, Eric Ferrara, is awaiting trial on Federal charges that he tried to bribe town officials to win approval for the plan.

The drive to deny the newly proposed tower was revealed by Mary Fehrenbach, a member of the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee, at the group's meeting on Feb. 11.

Anonymous Letter

Ms. Fehrenbach said she had received a copy of the anonymous letter at her business, Ocean Copies, at the Bridgehampton Commons shopping center.

The letter urges residents to write Town Board members opposing the plan. The letter said a tower would devalue residential property and its microwave transmissions could possibly cause health risks.

"I have no idea who's heading up anti-tower number two," Mr. Halsey said.