By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.
Verizon failed to complete the permitting steps required to install a 100-foot cell tower in a Pennsylvania neighborhood, a Pennsylvania state court has ruled.
Residents of Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, who fought Verizon’s plan for over two years, applauded the ruling.
Ashley Malley, who spearheaded the neighborhood resistance, told The Defender that her kids’ health was the “main reason” she fought the tower.
Malley has a 6-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. “My mama bear came out, and I was like, there is no way that I am going to risk any kind of health issues with my kids to have this happen,’’ she said.
Verizon’s tower would have been roughly 100 feet from the cul-de-sac where Malley and her neighbors live in Pleasant Hills, a borough roughly 10 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Mike Amantea, Malley’s neighbor who also opposed the tower, told The Defender he was also concerned about how the wireless radiation from the tower might have affected kids’ health.
“The tower people said there’s no harm, but you never know. There’s children up here playing. They’re always on the street,” Amantea said.
‘This is why it’s important to have a strong wireless ordinance’
According to the ruling, on March 24, 2023, Verizon filed an application with the borough’s zoning board for a special exception to the zoning ordinance so the company could install the tower in the residents’ neighborhood.
In July 2023, the board initially greenlit the application, but told Verizon the company must get a building permit within 180 days, or the application approval would be null and void.
In the meantime, Malley and her neighbors stepped up to fight the tower, Malley said. Going door-to-door, they garnered 100 signatures on a petition opposing Verizon’s plan.
They presented the petition to their council members, who would ultimately have to approve the project.
Malley said she was impressed with how willing the council was to work with residents. “They were very patient. And every meeting that they had, they let us come in and share our grievances.”
Per the borough’s local wireless ordinance, Verizon had to obtain what’s called a “site approval plan” as a prerequisite for its building permit.
Verizon wasn’t able to get the site approval plan fast enough to meet the building permit deadline. That gave local leaders, who largely “backed” the residents according to Malley, the rationale for halting Verizon’s plan.
On March 26, 2024, the borough’s planning commission unanimously voted to recommend that the council members deny Verizon’s plans, which the council did.
“This is why it’s important to have a strong wireless ordinance,” said Miriam Eckenfels, director of the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless Program.
Malley said Pleasant Hills had already passed the ordinance before Verizon sought to install the tower.
Local ordinances are “one way to keep towers away from where you don’t want them,” Eckenfels said. She added:
“Verizon’s application was denied because Pleasant Hills had a good wireless ordinance. Protective wireless ordinances work, which is why all communities should have them or advocate for one.”
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Courts side with local community, not Verizon
After Pleasant Hills denied Verizon’s application, the company appealed the council’s decision in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. However, the county court sided with the county.
Verizon appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, which upheld the county court’s decision.
Amantea said he hopes Verizon won’t try to take the issue before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. “Hopefully this is a dead issue … we’ve been fighting this for a long time.”
Verizon did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
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- ‘New Phase of Attack’: Children’s Health Defense Tells FCC to Protect People, or ‘Get Out of the Way’
- Historic New Mexico Town Blocks Cell Tower After Consulting Lawyer Featured in The Defender
The post Court Knocks Down Verizon Cell Tower: ‘This Is Why It’s Important to Have a Strong Wireless Ordinance’ appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.
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