“Think of the 2004 cellphone — our code was designed for that cellphone,” Jeremy Samuelson, director of the East Hampton Town Planning Department, told the town board on Tuesday. He was there to urge the board to adopt “a rather hefty document” — a brand-new wireless master plan.
“I think we all appreciate that how people thought about and relied upon cellular technology 20 years ago was very different than it is today,” he said. “The pandemic alone taught us the extent to which we’re reliant upon these technologies, but our infrastructure wasn’t matching it. We had to take a cultural leap and get to a place where we were saying, ‘This actually is critical infrastructure.’ ”
Mr. Samuelson and Eddie Schnell, communications technician for the East Hampton Police Department, noted that much has been done over the last few years to improve cell service in the town. The tower at Camp Blue Bay in Springs, for example, now offers service to AT&T and T-Mobile customers. (Verizon will also use the tower, but has not yet installed its equipment.)
Despite recent improvements, CityScape, the town’s wireless consultant, has identified a much greater need for infrastructure, Mr. Samuelson told the board. Adopting the proposed wireless master plan, he said, would “allow you to fold it into the comprehensive plan and make this part of our broader planning guidance for our community.”
The vote to adopt is to be held Thursday. Assuming it passes, Mr. Samuelson plans to take a “two-pronged approach” over the next few months “to make it real, so it results in better cell service. That’s the actual goal here.”
First, the town would begin an “open-for-business” campaign — an invitation to cell providers, tower builders, and lawyers who specialize in cell tower applications. “There is a discrete ecosystem for cellular service providers, and we want to engage with them,” he said.
Second, the town would contact local people identified by CityScape as owning properties that could host cell infrastructure. Some would be commercial, but firehouses and schools, for example, could also work, and should be asked about the possibility. “They can be part of the solution for the community,” Mr. Samuelson said.
The master wireless plan calls for a combination of technologies to satisfy the community’s “audacious goal of full coverage.” A 2022 Planning Department survey showed 87 percent of respondents calling for better service. “When 87 percent of people say to go in a certain direction, we feel that’s a pretty good mandate,” he said.
The most important parts of the plan are “the big towers you see out there,” said Mr. Samuelson, which no one likes to see. “Based on the current technology, we would need to add 10 macro towers, at a range of 100 to 140 feet, throughout the town.” That is the framework upon which the rest of the network would be built, supplemented by some 44 small wireless facilities — an antenna-type network along the top of utility poles — to complete coverage.
“We may find in the future we didn’t need all 10 of those towers,” Mr. Samuelson added. “These are broad recommendations, but we had to have a baseline.”
The wireless master plan has already run the gauntlet of two public hearings. Late last year, Mr. Samuelson said his department was considering how to “operationalize” the plan. “If someone walks in with an application and says I want to provide service in your community, we had to update that procedure.”
“At Camp Blue Bay, right now, service for AT&T and T-Mobile is operational. I can speak to it,” said Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez. “All of a sudden, the switch flipped, and I could drive in my neighborhood and have service.”
She asked Robert Connelly, the town attorney, whether a resolution to adopt the plan could be ready for a vote Thursday.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
“That’s great news,” she said. “And then more work begins.”
