Tiny remote town breaks out in civil war over 200ft addition that’ll loom over homes: ‘We don’t need it, we don’t want it!’
A small Colorado town is facing legal action after it approved the construction of a 200-foot-tall cell phone tower.
The building, which is to be built on the edge of the city, would improve mobile telephony in rural Villa Grove, but almost a third of residents do not want this.
They claim that service would only improve within a five-mile radius and that the installation could have unknown health effects.
Citizens also complain about the aesthetics of the construction, as it will overshadow the houses just a few hundred metres away.
Several citizens found this unacceptable and spoke to 9 News Friday about how they filed a lawsuit in hopes of stopping the project.
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The structure, which is set to go up on the edge of Villa Grove, Colorado (seen here), would help provide cell phone service in the rural area, but nearly a third of the people who live there don’t want it.
They claim that service would only improve within a five-mile radius and that the installation could have unknown health effects. Pictured: Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing Saguache County commissioners
“Even our trees, the tallest in the city, are only about 60 feet tall,” said Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing the Saguache County commissioners.
“I’ve never sued anyone in my life, but I felt so strongly about this that I stood up and will continue to do so.”
“We don’t have much in Villa Grove,” added Marquita Oliver, a local pastor who also serves as the administrator of the municipal marijuana dispensary.
“We have pottery, pottery, cake, a post office and upholstery,” said the self-proclaimed budtender.
As for claims that the tower would improve service in the region, several people said they are happy with the reception they have now.
“I have a $49 Walmart phone that works great,” said Kim McDaniel, a longtime roommate. “I get great reception.”
“I haven’t done enough research to know if it will affect me, but if it does, I’m not in favor of it,” added Carol Sperry of the telecommunications tower’s invisible radio frequency waves.
“Mobile telephony is not something we take for granted,” adds Philip Earing, owner of the only upholstery shop in the city for many years.
They claim that service would only improve within a five-mile radius and that the installation could have unknown health effects. Pictured: Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing Saguache County commissioners
“I haven’t done enough research to know if it’s going to radiate to me or anything, but if it does, I’m not for it,” added Carol Sperry, of the telecommunications tower’s invisible frequency waves
“We don’t need a 195-foot tower standing there,” said Philip Earing, the longtime owner of the city’s only upholstery business, after filing the lawsuit. “We don’t need a . . . “
“Very ugly,” said this local, one of many who objected to the telecommunications tower. “Everyone has cell phone reception here. For many miles.”
“It’s not necessary,” other residents said of the proposed construction, noting that they already have excellent phone reception without it. “I have a $49 Walmart phone that works fine,” said full-time resident Kim McDaniel (right). “I have good reception.”
‘I know that’s true for a lot of people. People in the city always want to be connected.
“We don’t want to be connected,” he exclaimed.
“We just don’t want it in the city,” Earing said. “We’re not against the tower, we just don’t want it in the city.”
Earing, Maez and nearly a third of the town — which has just 30 residents — are all plaintiffs in the new filing, which was first reported Friday by NBC.
They have all lived there for years and were all furious about the province’s decision to demolish the tower last month.
For people living in a city that hasn’t changed much in the past century, let alone the past few years, such projects are worrying.
“It will change the face of our small historic town,” Maez said last week at a meeting of residents participating in the lawsuit.
“Actually, right above our town,” she said. “A 190-foot metal monster.”
At the time of writing, the case is pending in the local court. “Our lawyer is waiting for all the evidence to come to him,” Maez said, as no date has been announced for the project.
In the meantime, residents of remote Villa Grove can continue to live their lives as usual on their idyllic patch of land along Highway 285, near the northern tip of the San Luis Valley.
“We don’t need a 190-foot tower,” Earing added. “We don’t need that.”
At the time of writing, the case is pending in the local court,
“Our lawyer is waiting until he has all the evidence,” Maez said, with no date yet announced for the project.
In the meantime, the residents of remote Villa Grove will continue their lives as usual on their idyllic settlement along Highway 285, near the northern tip of the San Luis Valley.
Allen Yarmark runs the pottery in town. He is one of the few who wants the tower.
“If it provides better cell coverage in the area, then I’m all for it,” Allen Yarmark, one of the tower’s few supporters, told 9 News on Friday.
“The people who are in plain sight don’t want it,” said the owner of the town’s only pottery shop. “The people who aren’t in plain sight don’t mind it as much.”
A county attorney reportedly declined to speak with 9 News.