At last night's meeting, we discussed the plan for Verizon to install 30'1" tall cell towers in and around our neighborhood. This has been a hot topic debate throughout Denver. A representative from Councilman Wayne New's office provided an update on the status of this project, and offered the following recommendations for action for anyone in the neighborhood who is interested:
"We sympathize with the community’s concerns and continue to make this issue one of our office’s top priorities. Councilman New has been working with Public Works to improve the location requirements for small cell infrastructure, with an emphasis on co-location. He was successful in pushing these poles to the edges of properties, corners and alleys (when possible), establishing distancing requirements for new poles and imposing a notification requirement to adjacent impacted residents.
There are not many viable ways for homeowners to block the installation of these poles in their right-of-way. Federal and State regulations require the City of Denver to permit these poles in the right-of-way. You are welcome to provide your input on the individual encroachment permits as part of the permitting process. (Unfortunately there is not a way to directly link to a specific encroachment/permit. Interested parties will have to search for the encroachment that contains the poles they are would like to comment on – for example 2018-ENCROACHMENT-0000054. At the top of the specific encroachment page is a grey button, clicking that will take you to a place to provide comments.) But note that Public Works has very limited reasons that a permit can be rejected.
We understand that there are health concerns from many neighbors as well. The Executive Director and Public Health Administrator for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment provided this response:
"Radiofrequency (RF) signals, such as those used with cell phone communication and cell towers, is not the same type of radiation one would be exposed to when receiving an x-ray. RF fields are non-ionizing radiation, meaning it is not strong enough to change the structure of atoms it contacts. Ionizing radiation can result in chemical changes in the body but because RF fields have lower energy they cannot cause ionization or cell damage. Hundreds of new research studies have investigated whether health problems can be linked to cell phone use or proximity to cell phone towers but to the best of my knowledge, none of those studies have been able to definitively link the two."
Frustratingly, local municipalities do not have the legal authority to block installation of small cell infrastructure based on health concerns. Section 704(a) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act expressly preempts state and local government regulation of the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the FCC's regulations concerning such emissions. 47 U.S.C. §332(c)(7)(B)(iv).
We encourage residents to call or email our office with any questions or concerns.”
You are welcome to contact Verizon as well. We would like to encourage all interested parties to express their desire for Verizon to quickly reach an agreement with Xcel on co-location and to prioritize co-location in their 5G rollout. Note: this would help to reduce the number of poles being constructed. The contact for Verizon is:
Debbie Essert
Verizon Wireless
Engr IV Spec-Real Estate/Mountain SubMarket
3131 S Vaughn Way #550
Aurora, CO 80014
Please see the attached files, including the current entrance requirements, FAQ information sheet and design guidelines on small cell infrastructure.
"We sympathize with the community’s concerns and continue to make this issue one of our office’s top priorities. Councilman New has been working with Public Works to improve the location requirements for small cell infrastructure, with an emphasis on co-location. He was successful in pushing these poles to the edges of properties, corners and alleys (when possible), establishing distancing requirements for new poles and imposing a notification requirement to adjacent impacted residents.
There are not many viable ways for homeowners to block the installation of these poles in their right-of-way. Federal and State regulations require the City of Denver to permit these poles in the right-of-way. You are welcome to provide your input on the individual encroachment permits as part of the permitting process. (Unfortunately there is not a way to directly link to a specific encroachment/permit. Interested parties will have to search for the encroachment that contains the poles they are would like to comment on – for example 2018-ENCROACHMENT-0000054. At the top of the specific encroachment page is a grey button, clicking that will take you to a place to provide comments.) But note that Public Works has very limited reasons that a permit can be rejected.
We understand that there are health concerns from many neighbors as well. The Executive Director and Public Health Administrator for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment provided this response:
"Radiofrequency (RF) signals, such as those used with cell phone communication and cell towers, is not the same type of radiation one would be exposed to when receiving an x-ray. RF fields are non-ionizing radiation, meaning it is not strong enough to change the structure of atoms it contacts. Ionizing radiation can result in chemical changes in the body but because RF fields have lower energy they cannot cause ionization or cell damage. Hundreds of new research studies have investigated whether health problems can be linked to cell phone use or proximity to cell phone towers but to the best of my knowledge, none of those studies have been able to definitively link the two."
Frustratingly, local municipalities do not have the legal authority to block installation of small cell infrastructure based on health concerns. Section 704(a) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act expressly preempts state and local government regulation of the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the FCC's regulations concerning such emissions. 47 U.S.C. §332(c)(7)(B)(iv).
We encourage residents to call or email our office with any questions or concerns.”
You are welcome to contact Verizon as well. We would like to encourage all interested parties to express their desire for Verizon to quickly reach an agreement with Xcel on co-location and to prioritize co-location in their 5G rollout. Note: this would help to reduce the number of poles being constructed. The contact for Verizon is:
Debbie Essert
Verizon Wireless
Engr IV Spec-Real Estate/Mountain SubMarket
3131 S Vaughn Way #550
Aurora, CO 80014
Please see the attached files, including the current entrance requirements, FAQ information sheet and design guidelines on small cell infrastructure.
| Small Cell Design Guidelines |
| SMALL CELL FREESTANDING ANTENNA POLE ROW PERMIT ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS |
| Small Cell Infrastructure in Denver |
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