> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://websterledger.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Planning Board gives Webster North tower preliminary approval, tables Lake Road to Nov. 10 - URL: https://websterledger.com/2026-10-07-planning-board-recap/ - Published: 2026-10-07T19:21:14.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-07T19:21:14.000Z - Description: The Planning Board granted preliminary site plan approval to Verizon's Webster North tower and tabled the Lake Road tower to Nov. 10. The board also approved a Ridge Road addition, signs for two businesses and two pole barns. - Author: Morgan VanDerLeest - Tags: Planning & development, Cell tower The Webster Planning Board granted preliminary site plan approval Oct. 6 to Verizon's 135-foot Webster North tower on Wildflower Drive. The board tabled the Lake Road tower to its next meeting, Nov. 10. Both towers had been [tabled Sept. 1](https://websterledger.com/2026-09-02-planning-board-verizon-towers-tabled/) and returned with [new filings dated Sept. 29](https://websterledger.com/2026-10-06-planning-board-preview/). The board also approved a building addition on Ridge Road, signs for two businesses and two pole barns, and heard an informational sketch plan for Olive Garden. ## Results by agenda item - **Webster North tower, 1222 Wildflower Drive:** preliminary site plan approval granted. - **Lake Road and County Line Road tower:** tabled to Nov. 10. - **Vital Sign building addition, 764 Ridge Road:** preliminary and final site plan approval granted. - **OptiCool signs, 855 Publishers Parkway:** approved. - **Himalayan Kitchen sign, 1075 Ridge Road:** approved. - **Pole barn, Pellett Road:** preliminary and final site plan approval granted. - **Pole barn, Gravel Road:** preliminary and final site plan approval granted. - **Olive Garden, 931 Holt Road:** informational sketch plan review with no vote. - **Minutes:** approved. ## Webster North, Wildflower Drive The board granted preliminary site plan approval for a 135-foot tower with a 4-foot lightning rod on a 14.2-acre parcel in an R-3 single-family residential district. The board closed the public hearing before voting. The approval vote was 4-2. The approval is preliminary. Verizon's Sept. 29 letter describes the application as one for site plan approval, [special permit approval and an area variance](https://websterledger.com/2026-10-06-planning-board-preview/). The Zoning Board of Appeals [tabled both towers to its October meeting, Oct. 13](https://websterledger.com/2026-09-09-zba-verizon-towers-tabled-comment-closed/). In its Sept. 29 letter, Verizon agreed to extend the federal shot clock, the deadline for the town to act on the application, to Nov. 20. Verizon's attorney said the company's radio-frequency engineer analyzed the Webster Presbyterian Church site and found it not viable, because it would not cover the project's western and central corridors. Verizon also said it flew an additional drone Sept. 11 and said the drone was not visible from neighboring properties. William Johnson of RF Engineering Consultants, the board's radio-frequency consultant, reviewed Verizon's church-site analysis. Johnson said the church site would not cover the area to the west and would overlap areas the proposed tower already covers. A Wildflower Drive neighbor said the drone was small and could be seen only by zooming in with a camera. ## Lake Road and County Line Road The board tabled the Lake Road tower to Nov. 10\. The application is for a 125-foot tower with a 4-foot lightning rod on a 7.8-acre parcel in a large-lot residential district. In its Sept. 29 letter for this application, Verizon agreed to the same Nov. 20 shot clock date. Verizon was asked at the meeting to do two things before Nov. 10: - Ask the property owner to approach the conservation program described at the meeting as covering the land, about allowing a tower on the south edge of the parcel, near the woods. - Show photos of comparable tower sites and screening options. Verizon said it met with the owner on site and that he was firm he could not accommodate another location. In an Aug. 3 review, the board's radio-frequency consultants recommended that Verizon be asked to document its outreach to the owners of four candidate sites if the board finds the record does not show those alternatives were unavailable. Verizon said it would provide more documentation of that outreach. The company also asked the board to pass along a final list of what it needs so it can return Nov. 10 with a complete package. During the public hearing, attorneys for Lake Road neighbors said Verizon's search for alternative sites was insufficient. One attorney called the Seaway Trail an aesthetic resource and said the state environmental review should find that the project may have a significant adverse impact, which is called a positive declaration. Residents who live near the site said they have Verizon service without problems. One neighbor across the road said the tower would line up with a driveway and that landscaping would need to be planted at tower height to screen it. One speaker said a buyer for nearby property backed out after learning of the proposed tower. Verizon's attorney said the company evaluated seven candidate parcels, that the remaining property owners in the search area declined to negotiate and that Verizon cannot compel a lease. An owner who said her land is inside Verizon's search area said at the hearing that she was never contacted about putting a tower there. Verizon's radio-frequency engineer said the need is mid-band capacity, and that sector splitting would not provide mid-band service in this area. Verizon said it could add a different fence or landscaping and would welcome the board's comments on the driveway location. Verizon's representatives said a monopine-style camouflage tower would leave less room for other carriers and does not suit an open field. Verizon also said it could explore one if the board directs. ## Other approvals The board granted preliminary and final site plan approval for the Vital Sign building addition at 764 Ridge Road after tabling the application Sept. 1\. The project is a 15,000-square-foot, one-story addition to an 11,000-square-foot building on 4.21 acres in the Commercial Outdoor Storage district. Conditions read at the meeting included a letter of credit and public works approvals. Final approval also required a letter of certification from the engineer before a certificate of occupancy. The board approved two non-illuminated monument signs for OptiCool at 855 Publishers Parkway and a 48.2-square-foot internally illuminated wall sign for Himalayan Kitchen at 1075 Ridge Road. The board granted preliminary and final site plan approval for a 768-square-foot pole barn on Pellett Road and a 1,140-square-foot pole barn on Gravel Road. Conditions read for the Pellett Road barn included personal use only, and the Gravel Road barn carried the same conditions. The board also approved its minutes. ## Olive Garden sketch plan, Holt Road A company representative presented a sketch plan to renovate and expand the former UNO Pizzeria building at 931 Holt Road. The plan includes new exterior stone cladding, redone landscaping and curbside to-go service without a drive-through. A sketch plan review is informational, and the board took no vote. The meeting heard that a licensed landscape architect should design the landscaping and that the dumpster enclosure needs a cover and solid screening. Two letters opposing the Olive Garden plan were read aloud at the meeting. The applicant was told to prepare and return for approval. The town's Property Under Review page lists the site for an area variance before the Zoning Board of Appeals Oct. 13. ## Get Webster news in your inbox Independent local journalism for Webster, NY. 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