By the time you read this, the Town Board will have held another public hearing on the proposed Homeland Towers cell tower project on Granite Springs Road.
As of this writing, the outcome is unknown. But whatever the board decides, one thing is already certain: Yorktown's residents showed up.
Over 1,000 people signed a petition opposing this project. Volumes of letters were submitted to the Town Board. Neighbors, parents, environmentalists and advocates took time out of their lives — evenings, weekends, work days — to attend hearings, research the issues and make their voices heard. Some became amateur environmental lawyers. Others learned more than they ever expected to about wetland buffers, parkland alienation and telecommunications infrastructure. All of them did it because they love this community and believe their voices should matter.
That is democracy. And it is something to be proud of.
The concerns driving this community to organize were never subtle. The proposed tower site sits in a wetland buffer. It involves alienated parkland — land set aside for public use and enjoyment, which carries legal protections that don't simply dissolve because a private company wants a prime location. Proponents have cited public safety as one justification for the project — a concern worth taking seriously. But residents were right to ask questions about the nature and urgency of that need, and to seek a fuller understanding of whether this particular solution, in this particular location, is truly the right answer.
But here is what I want every Yorktown resident to take away from this experience, whatever the outcome: your participation matters, and it doesn't end when a public hearing closes.
Local government is where decisions are made that affect your daily life most directly — the roads you drive on, the taxes you pay, the open space you enjoy and the character of the community your children grow up in. Yet local government is also where civic participation is lowest. School board meetings, town board meetings, planning board hearings — these are the rooms where Yorktown's future is actually being shaped, often with very few residents watching.
The residents who organized around the Homeland Towers project understood something that more of us need to: you don't have to wait for a crisis to get involved. In fact, the earlier you engage, the more influence you have. The time to weigh in on a project is before it gains momentum — when questions about siting, environmental impact, and alternatives can still shape the outcome, rather than after a community has to mobilize just to be heard.
So whether you signed the petition, attended a hearing, wrote a letter or simply followed this issue from the sidelines — I encourage you to stay engaged. Come to a Town Board meeting. Sign up for the town's email updates. Read the agenda before your next meeting. Ask questions. Run for a committee seat. Talk to your neighbors about what's happening in your community.
One thousand people raised their voices on this project. Imagine what Yorktown could look like if that energy carried into every decision this town makes.
Transparent, accountable government doesn't happen automatically. It happens because residents demand it — consistently, persistently and not just in moments of crisis.
There is work to do. And it starts with all of us.
Jann Mirchandani is a candidate for Yorktown Supervisor.
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