Richard Gere Offer To Allow Cell Tower On Property Met With Skepticism

BEDFORD, NY — An out-of-the-box solution to Bedford's legal woes with Verizon has created a whole new controversy and has been met with allegations of special treatment and quid pro quo favors.

Richard Gere, who co-owns the Bedford Post Inn, is offering land on the inn's 14-acre property for a proposed 130-foot cellphone tower. Bedford is facing a lawsuit filed by Verizon after the Bedford Planning Board rejected two previously proposed cell tower sites. The town is under increasing pressure to approve a site for the tower that is federally mandated to fill service gaps and improve communications that emergency responders might need to rely on.

At first glance, the offer by Gere's business, which he co-owns with real estate magnate Russell Hernandez, seemed like a perfect solution, but neighbors say there is more to the offer than meets the eye.

The proposed deal has also been called into question from a surprising quarter.

Roxanne Spruance, The Bedford Post Inn's executive chef and the co-owner of the property's Michelin-rated bistro, The Barn, says the apparently gregarious deal to allow a cell tower on the property is more self-serving than altruistic. Spruance told the Bedford Planning Board at recent meetings on Dec. 5 and Dec. 19 that the strictly enforced environmental standards that had been in place for as long as she has operated her business, seemed to vanish after the cell tower proposal was announced.

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"I just want to make it very clear that the restaurant and the hotel are very separate," Spruance told the Bedford Planning Board on Dec. 5. "It’s wild to me that the approval for the expansion plans for the hotel that were held up for two years or more with the zoning board, appeals, all of that suddenly got approved via quid pro quo, which I can only assume that all signs are pointing to, that we’re all aware of between Ellen and the property owners, Richard Gere and Russell Hernandez. I’m concerned that the normally cautious planning board process is being compromised by a desire to find a convenient solution for the cell tower litigation. I’ve seen Ellen Calves meeting with Russell Hernandez, one of my landlords well ahead of the planning board’s approval."

Town Supervisor Ellen Calves told the NY Post that Spruance's allegation is unfounded.

"That statement is not based on reality or fact," Calves told the newspaper. "The owners of the inn have been working on expanding their operations and have had plans before various boards of the town for several years and all of those have been received with enthusiastic support."

Calves told the Post that Gere and Hernandez "generously offered" the location because they genuinely "care deeply" about the town's emergency responders.

"It definitely came to our attention because they are working on their property, but in no way, shape or form was this idea put forward asking for any kind of favor or preferential treatment," Calves added. "Their project was well underway and already on the path to approval."

Calves told The Post that she was the one who asked Gere and Hernandez this past summer if they would be willing to accomodate the tower.

"Many members of the public were imploring the town board to find a less intrusive alternative," Calves told The Post. "Given that the Post Inn property is commercial, and in the town code commercial property is considered 'less intrusive' than residential sites, I was looking … to see if they would consider this."

The exclusive enclave's rich, powerful and famous neighbors are dubious about the assertion that the latest plans are less intrusive.

"The Board’s proposed solution at the Bedford Post Inn site is highly intrusive, not only to us but to our entire neighborhood," Jerry Seinfeld’s sister and manager Carolyn Liebling, with her husband, wrote in a letter to the planning commission. "The tower will cause significant environmental damage, including removal of acres of mature oaks, maples and other trees. The tower site and access road will scar the hillside and create a denuded hilltop that will be visible from our property and will be as intrusive as the tower itself. Our property value will plummet as well. We cannot stress enough how going forward with the proposed cell tower site at the Bedford Post Inn, next to our property, will change our lives, doing irreparable harm to our wellbeing and way of life."

The Leiblings are by no means alone in their opposition to the plan.

"My husband and I are very concerned about the new proposed site for a Verizon tower. At 684 feet, the tower will be the highest visible feature in all of Bedford except Mt. Aspetong," Kathleen Rooney Mara wrote in opposition to locating the tower on the Bedford Post Inn site. "It will destroy a breathtaking ridgeline and cause significant environmental destruction and damage that will be visible from all directions, including historic properties and scenic roads. I look out towards the northwest each morning on my way down Indian Hill. In the winter I have a gorgeous vista. And I look forward to it every year. Now I’ll be looking at an ugly tower that will soon be obsolete if the location is approved. When I drive by the nesting place for the great cranes the tower will be lurking. When I take a walk down Indian Hill with my dog and husband it will be there like an eye sore. When I climb the Pound Ridge Reservation trail on Honey Hollow Road I will for sure see it - A reminder of man’s destruction of our Earth in an otherwise tranquil majestic spot. Is this what our beautiful town wants or needs?"

The Lieblings are among a group of neighbors hoping to convince a judge to block approval of the Bedford Post Inn site.

Calves vowed that she won't allow the concerns of a few trump the needs of the larger community.

"Just because people who have money and power are threatening legal action, that doesn’t mean that they get more deference than anyone else," Calves told The Post. "We have to make the right decision for the whole town. This is a matter of public safety and quality of life."

The public comment period is now closed except for written comments, which will be accepted until Dec. 28. The Bedford Planning Board will resume the review of Verizon’s latest application on Jan. 3.