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The 130,000 annual visitors to Olana see some things Church never saw, from an old cement plant by the river to a separate trio of radio station towers prominent just to the south. The two towers already perched atop what is known as Blue Hill are difficult to see from the house when trees are in full leaf, but they are visible from other points at Olana. Jeffrey Anzevino, director of land use advocacy for Scenic Hudson, said the current towers are 2 feet wide and held steady with guy wires. The new latticed tower, 13 feet at the tree line and tapering to 4.3 feet at its top, would be far easier to see, he said. "Our real issue is we want to make sure the proposed facility is as minimally visible as possible," Anzevino said. Anzevino, whose group has protected 1,600 acres of land that can be seen from Olana, believes there are compromise solutions that could be negotiated. He said he was encouraged the Federal Communications Commission this month called for a review of the proposal under the National Historic Preservation Act. The lawsuit against the planning board and applicant Eger Communications claims the board gave approval without taking into account the "significant environmental impacts" of the tower, as required by state environmental law. The lawsuit cites a recent letter from the state's deputy commissioner of historic preservation supporting that viewpoint. Mark Eger's attorney, Jacqueline Phillips Murray, said the board did its job. She said the state found no significant visual impacts of the current towers when they went up in the early '90s and there does not need to be another review for this replacement tower of the same height in the same location. "God forbids that something happens," Murray said. "By filing this lawsuit, Olana and Scenic Hudson have made a conscious choice to put the lives of citizens and visitors to Columbia County at risk."
[Associated
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