RyeCity REVIEW THE
December 15, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 50 | www.ryecityreview.com
Courts rule in city’s favor over Crown Castle
ON THE
By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
RISE
Max Samberg brings the ball
up the floor during Rye’s Dec. 8 opener against Pleasantville. The Garnets won their first two games of the season to take top honors at the Cliff Clinton Classic. For story, see page 15. Photos/Mike Smith
City amends budget; proposes 3.03% tax bump By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer The Rye City Council has adjusted its tentative budget for 2018, ultimately squashing an override of the state-mandated tax cap. As a result, Rye’s budget for next year is now projecting a 3.03 percent increase in taxes for prop-
erty owners. City Manager Marcus Serrano originally proposed to increase taxes by 6.23 percent with his budget proposal on Nov. 8. On Dec. 6, by a 5-2 vote of the City Council, the budget was adjusted to account for a $100,000 reduction in legal fees, a $50,000 decrease in Rye Town Park funding, decreases in inter-fund ser-
vices and electricity costs by $160,000, and a $200,000 cut in capital projects. Councilwomen Danielle Tagger-Epstein and Emily Hurd, both Democrats, voted against the amendments. With the adjustments, the City Council was able to bring the 2018 tentative budget under the state-mandated tax levy cap of 1.84 percent with the use of
$200,000 in fund balance money for operations, as well as a total $245,000 increase in projected revenues. The state’s tax cap legislation was meant to set a ceiling at which municipalities can raise taxes. The city will now come in BUDGET continued on page 8
After an extended legal dispute, a federal court has ruled in Rye’s favor, stating that the city did not violate the federal Telecommunications Act by forcing contractor Crown Castle to undergo a city-imposed environmental review. The ruling, sent down on Dec. 8 by a U.S. district court, will allow the city to move forward with its efforts to fully vet a plan by Crown Castle—which is being contracted by Verizon Wireless— to install more than approximately 70 wireless nodes across the city as a part of an effort to expand its cellular infrastructure. “This order recognizes the importance of a diligent review process that includes a review of the potential environmental impacts of installation of small cells,” said Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican, in a statement. “The city considered varying points of view, and to have Judge Briccetti affirm that we have acted in accordance with federal law is gratifying.” As a result of the judge’s dismissal, Crown Castle’s claims that the city violated state law will also be thrown out. In April, the city voted to undergo an environmental review of the project under the lens of the State Environmental Quality Review Act, SEQR, after issuing a positive determination for the project.
Following that determination, Crown Castle filed its lawsuit against the city, alleging that Rye was obligated to make a decision on the project without undergoing such a thorough environmental review process. But now that the process is allowed to continue on, among other things, the review will assess the pending application’s effects on neighborhood aesthetics, noise and the environment. Since 2016, when Crown Castle proposed its expansion plan to the city, the issue has ballooned to become one of the biggest local issues, giving way to the formation of active citizen groups which have helped to pressure city government into pumping the brakes on Crown Castle’s application. One of the most active and vocal members of anti-Crown Castle groups, Mayor-elect Joshua Cohn, a Democrat, recently defeated Sack in November’s election and will replace the incumbent in office next month. With a sweep of the City Council election, it pushed Democrats are now set to take over majority control of the council come January. On the Republican side, Councilman Terry McCartney also lost in an attempt at re-election, while councilwomen Julie Killian and Kirstin Bucci did not seek re-election. Specifically, residents opposed CROWN continued on page 3