Tower Turmoil! Mahwah Sues Ramsey Over 180-Foot Cell Tower Near NYSE Data Center—Is ‘Sovereign Immunity’ Enough?
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
MAHWAH & RAMSEY, NJ – A major legal battle is brewing in Bergen County as the Township of Mahwah files a formal complaint against the Borough of Ramsey. At the heart of the dispute is Ramsey’s move to install a massive 180-foot telecommunications tower on its property directly along the Mahwah border, adjacent to the sprawling New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) data center on MacArthur Boulevard.
Mahwah officials allege that Ramsey has completely bypassed standard local regulatory processes, claiming a controversial defense: sovereign immunity.
The Contested Site and the Sovereign Immunity Claim
The proposed tower site is an 8-acre property on North Central Avenue, owned by Ramsey and currently housing a water treatment facility and a public soccer field.
According to Mahwah’s complaint, Ramsey’s legal counsel, Peter Scandariato, and McKay Brothers’ attorney, Gregory Meese, asserted that Ramsey is immune from Mahwah’s zoning, land use, and construction permit requirements.
While neither attorney has publicly clarified the application of sovereign immunity—the legal principle that exempts government entities from certain laws—Ramsey’s October 9 resolution claims the tower is necessary due to “significant deficiencies in their respective wireless communications systems.”
A Private Interest Driving a Public Project?
Mahwah is questioning the dual purpose of the project. While the Ramsey resolution emphasizes the obligation to maintain “public services,” it also openly states that the site’s proximity to the NYSE data center “may also make it attractive to a private communications company” for construction.
Expert testimony during a February public hearing confirmed this suspicion. Radio frequency expert David Stern revealed that the 180-foot tower height was specifically required to overcome obstructions to connect the NYSE data center with other data centers, notably one in Montclair.
The Problem of “Frequency Congestion”
The McKay Brothers—who were awarded the lease in 2020 and signed an agreement in 2023—are seeking the tower to gain a crucial line-of-sight advantage. Stern noted that there are already “five towers of similar height” surrounding the NYSE data center.
This density has resulted in “frequency congestion,” a condition where multiple antenna systems are transmitting signals to the same location. This congestion may explain why McKay Brothers is also weighing a separate agreement with Bergen County to build an even larger 500-foot transmission tower in the Highlands Preservation Area on Bear Swamp Road.
The lawsuit underscores the tension between necessary communications infrastructure, local zoning control, and the massive financial interests of private high-frequency trading companies operating near the Mahwah/Ramsey border.
Join the new Saddle River Valley, Ramapo and Pascack Valley Communities Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1931704860512551/
#news #follow #media #trending #viral #newsupdate #currentaffairs #BergenCountyNews #NJBreakingNews #NJHeadlines #NJTopStories
Talk about hideous blights on the landscape.