DEWITT, NY - It looks a bit different than other pine trees - and that's because it is.
This "monopine" spotted off Route 5 in DeWitt is actually a cell phone tower camouflaged as a pine tree. Known as a "monopine" stealth tower, it's located on the grounds of the White House Offices LLC at 7030 E. Genesee St., next to Lyndon Corners Golf Course.
The 100-foot Verizon Wireless cell tower has taken three weeks to install, said Dave Macauli, project manager with Southern Tier Towers LLC, a subcontractor to Lanz Construction. Work should be completed by Friday, he said.
This monopine, which actually comes as a kit with all the required parts, has 134 branches. The branches hide the lines and antennas while still allowing radio frequencies to flow through them. The cell tower itself is actually is painted to resemble tree bark, Macauli said.
Cell phone towers are sometimes concealed as pine trees, palm trees or even flagpoles, Macauli said. In other cases, towers are hidden as a building, a window or a penthouse on top of a building, he said.
Southern Tier Towers has completed four monopines in New York state in the past year, Macauli said, as more people choose to conceal cell phone towers in creative ways.