TAMPA, Fla. — Now, families in Tampa are fighting for more regulations on where 5G cell towers can be built in the area.
At least two such towers have already been built in Tampa’s Bayshore Beautiful District, and more are on the way.
They work like regular cell phone towers to speed up wireless signals throughout neighborhoods, but neighbors say they’re worried because of their proximity to their homes.
Kitty Solomon installed one in the easement area of her front yard about a year ago.
“It’s so close. It really feels like I’m sleeping with Paul!” Solomon joked.
She said she was surprised by the cell phone towers.
“I didn’t notice it at all, but one day they started digging,” Solomon said.
A similar 5G pole is installed a mile away in the same area.
Leslie Thomas, who lives nearby, said: “It’s scary and alarming.” “I work from home, and my internet speeds are going to be slower than if I had it near my kids’ bedrooms.”
Deep in her neighborhood, Morgan Watts learned that there were plans to install a 5G Verizon tower next to her home.
“I’m angry that I don’t have the right to say that. I’m angry that I asked a question and all I got was that they were safe. My research is that the jury The World Health Organization’s official statement on 5G does not acknowledge that, Watts said, adding that the new technology is still being investigated.
Attorney Matania Jahn specializes in zoning and land use.
“Local governments don’t have a lot of discretion in this regard,” Jahn explained.
Jahn said the reason for this is Florida’s Advanced Wireless Infrastructure Deployment Act, which allows telecommunications companies to install small 5G cell towers without approval from local government officials.
“Imagine if FP&L or the utility company had to go through a public hearing every time they needed to put up a pole. And because the range of these small cells is so limited; It’s very similar,” Jahn explained.
Morgan Watts and her neighbors are currently working to change state laws regulating 5G poles. They started a petition on Change.org asking state leaders to place further limits on where polar poles can reach and how many can be placed there.
“What I’m trying to do here is nothing new. There are hundreds of municipalities, states and countries in Europe that have placed restrictions on 5G towers and their placement,” Watts said. explained.
Their goal is to give local leaders regulatory powers or make far-reaching changes to force them out of the area.
Another example Watts is looking at is a bill currently moving through the New Hampshire state legislature. If passed, 5G poles would not be allowed to be installed within 500 meters of homes or schools.
