SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) – A South Florida community is up in arms about 5G cell towers popping up in their neighborhoods.
Over the past few months, Kendall residents have seen giant poles appear on public sidewalks near Southwest 117th Street and Killian Parkway, a problem homeowners say is also occurring in Naples and Tampa.
Telecommunications companies said they are working to improve connectivity for everyone, but members of the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations said the poles are an eyesore and could affect their health and property values.
At a meeting on Tuesday night, association leaders reacted to the tower being built in the neighbourhood.
“The community is screaming at us that these towers are popping up in their community, and soon to come to my Calusa,” said Michael Rosenberg, president of the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations. “I walk out one morning and boom, there’s a 60-foot tower in front of my house.”
Miles Moss, who represents about 1,500 homes in the Winston Park area, said the responsibility lies with the county.
“They just hire an off-duty police officer to be with them and start putting up poles. The county issues the permits a long time ago,” Moss said.
Miami-Dade County officials declined to speak with 7News during a meeting Tuesday.
Homeowners said county officials told them the Florida Legislature had passed a new law that automatically grants permits to businesses after a certain period of time, tying their hands.
“Again, there’s very little jurisdiction, so it’s a state law that’s very attractive to the companies that are installing these devices,” said Sylvia Morales Gutierrez, a Glen Cove homeowner.
Homeowners at the meeting said they want the same transparency they’ve seen from power companies in the past.
“AT&T talked about where to put the lines. ‘We’re putting them here, we need to put them in your backyard, we need to do this here,'” Moss said.[Florida Power & Light] I did the same thing, the water department did the same thing, but I don’t know who these people are.”
7News did not immediately receive a response from the telecommunications company listed by the homeowner.
But these homeowners are very motivated to change state law. They said they’re organizing and reaching out to their state representatives because they don’t want this to happen to other Florida homeowners.
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