photo credit: City of Santa Rosa Planning & Economic Development Department
Artist's rendering of the Verizon cell tower as will be seen from the intersection of
Santa Rosa Avenue and Colgan Avenue.

There were no weak signals coming from a small group of residents incensed on Thursday evening over a planned new cell tower installation on Colgan Avenue in southeast Santa Rosa.

The dust up - due to concern over 5G capabilities at the site - culminated with a less-than-orderly exchange between attendees and the members of the Planning Commission.

The 69 foot cell phone and radio signal tower, “stealth-ed” to look like a pine tree, is proposed by Verizon to boost network reliability along the heavily trafficked Santa Rosa Avenue corridor.

The site sits against Colgan Creek just behind the nearby Costco, and across the street from the Vintage Park Senior Apartments.

A handful of residents at Vintage Park are opposing what they said is an imposition of the tower on their neighborhood.

"Verizon has also stated that it's actually doing this to expand its coverage for a new housing development," said one commenter. "The new housing developments are taking place on Kawana Springs. The only reason they're not there is because it would drop the property values by 20% and no developer in his right mind would accept a cell tower."

Those opposed are also concerned with possible health effects of 5G radiation.

"You have the power to control the cancerous spread of cell phone towers, pun intended," said another commenter.

Commissioner Jeffrey Holton did question noise pollution to nearby residents from the tower’s backup generators. He sought assurance from Verizon’s representatives that construction and maintenance would occur during business hours.

Holton said he understands the concerns.

"Early on in my time at the planning commission, one of the first things we overheard was another concern to another cell tower that was being erected," Holton said. "And I was just like you folks, I am like, wait a minute, big business isn't just gonna come in and do some stuff where you got kids battling, you know, cancer under telephone wires."

But Holton argued science hasn't borne out those concerns.

"We are all afraid of the esoteric," Holton said. "I understand that. However, just to let you know, the American Cancer Society has conducted a myriad of studies as well as a myriad of other independent and individual associations, organizations, and they have all determined the same inconclusive result."

Following Holton’s closing remarks and angry shouts from aggrieved attendees, Santa Rosa's Planning Commission unanimously gave the green light for the new cell tower.

Members cited a boost to radio reliability for emergency responders, and the application’s compliance with zoning code and requirements.