The following letter was sent to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission:

Concerning the email my family sent you on July 6 expressing qualified support for AT&T’s proposed new Chappaquiddick cell tower, we had no idea at that time what AT&T’s plans were for the design of its new tower. We do now, having seen some of the schematics for the proposal. We would like to withdraw our previous email and associate ourselves 100 per cent with those Chappaquiddick residents who oppose the approval of this monstrosity. It would be a terrible mistake to build this cell tower on our beloved Island when other perfectly good alternatives are available.

The proposed tall tower, with all its hardware and additional equipment to boost AT&T’s bottom line, will be an outrageous eyesore on Chappaquiddick’s horizon for generations to come, infringing on the Island’s public space for all to see. If the proposed tower wasn’t so offensive, it would be almost comical. Who knew that a company would seriously propose — with a straight corporate face — a contraption that is so ugly, so Rube-Goldberg-like, so contrary to the natural beauty of our island? It’s hard to believe. Clearly, the AT&T engineers who are pushing this tower don’t live here. We do, however. And long after the engineers have packed their bags and caught the ferry back to wherever they came from, Chappy’s residents and visitors will be forced to look at this ungainly middle finger to the sky, and wonder who in their right minds could have approved such a blot on the landscape that all of us know and hold dear.

We beg you to do the sensible thing: Postpone a decision on the AT&T proposal until further study can present a better option for all concerned.

Timothy Leland and Family
Chappaquiddick