RespectPDX

1. Cell Towers Up — Property Values Down: One study by The Appraisal Journal showed a 20% decrease in property values when a cell tower is built in a community. Would you buy a home next to one?
2. Radiation & Health Concerns: According to the FCC, who licenses these towers: "Some studies have also examined the possibility of a link between RF exposure and cancer. Results to date have been inconclusive." Until they know for sure, do you want one on your block, or by your kids' school?
3. Loud & Ugly: Portland is a special place, we love it here and want to preserve the character of our town and our neighborhoods. These towers are eyesores and the equipment cabinets emit almost constant noise. Clearwire has been issued noise violations for installations in other Portland neighborhoods. These towers simply don't belong on residential streets.

Letter to President Brok Obom, courtesy of one of the nearly twenty young children living near the proposed Beaumont Wilshire cell tower site.

On Tuesday June 1, over sixty people gathered at 37th and Fremont for a RespectPDX demonstration and bake sale. Despite the rain, we had a substantial turnout of families from the neighborhood. Children in raincoats brought hand-made signs like "No Cell Tower in My Bedroom Window" and "No cell tower — too noisy". The crowd also included people from other Portland neighborhoods, including Brentwood Darlington, Sunnyside, Parkrose, Alameda, Irvington, and Piedmont. All expressed a strong opposition to cell towers in residential neighborhoods as they munched on homemade cookies. We raised $145 for our RespectPDX legal fund.

Irvington and Alameda Neighborhood residents living within 400 feet of a proposed 90-foot Clearwire cell tower on NE Stanton near 23rd Avenue recently received notice of the proposal. The initial notice carried incorrect information about the proposal, and confusion still abounds about the details of the proposal. With only two weeks to research the issue, neighbors are scrambling to get up to speed on what the presence of a 90-foot cell tower would mean to the neighborhood, and whether it would makes sense in this historic enclave.

At a special general meeting of the BWNA on Thursday, January 28, the group voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution stating that BWNA "opposes Clearwire's plans for a wireless tower on Northeast Fremont Street near 37th Avenue or any Priority 4 residential street and recommends that the City of Portland Reject the company’s request for a tower and adjacent equipment cabinet."

Read the full text of the BWNA resolution

Thanks to the BWNA Land Use committee, BWNA president Al Ellis, and Bruce Crest, former BWNA president and Administrator of the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission, for their research into this issue.

Thanks to the all the residents of Beaumont Wilshire who showed up to make their voices heard and the volunteers who leafleted the neighborhood to get the word out.

UPDATE: On March 3rd, the Board of Directors of Central Northeast Neighbors, a coalition of eight NE Portland neighborhoods, voted unanimously to endorse the BWNA cell tower resolution.

On Monday, March 1st, a PP&L construction crew began work to build the proposed cell tower at NE Fremont and NE Alameda (37th), cutting and marking the sidewalk and moving cables. The work continued on Tuesday. However, Clearwire was not eligible to submit its application for the tower to the City until April 7th, 30 days after it completed its requirement to hold a neighborhood meeting to take input on the tower project from the residents.

This premature construction kickoff raises questions about whether the City's new process for public-right-of-way cell towers actually gives citizens a voice, and whether it has any teeth to control the construction of new cell towers by the various wireless companies.

Construction work continued full steam ahead two days later on Wednesday, March 3rd, despite the Stop Work Order issued Tuesday afternoon by the City's Office of Cable Communications & Franchise Management. A construction crew with flaggers installed a new transformer in preparation for the proposed cell tower going up.

• KATU News: Proposed cell tower raises the ire of neighbors
• OPB News: Constuction Of Portland Cell Phone Tower Starts Before Permission Is Given

The following signs recently appeared on the NE Fremont/Alameda utility pole targeted by Clearwire:

According to Commissioner Frtiz the proposed tower is the first application under new City regulations she introduced last year. The new regulations introduced a "priority street" system with residential streets being the last option: "Priority 4." Wireless providers must try to locate equipment on Priority 1, 2 and 3 streets before coming into our neighborhoods. This first application under the new rules is on a Priority 4 residential street a block and a half from a school! If this tower goes in it could signal the start of an onslaught of cell towers on residential streets all over the city. Sign up now to get involved before this happens in your backyard!

Research shows that installing a cell tower reduces the property values of homes near the tower. An in-depth study from the Summer 2005 issue of the respected real estate journal, The Appraisal Journal, looked at the effects of wireless base stations on property values in New Zealand. The study concluded that "[t]he results of the sales analysis show prices of properties were reduced by around 21% after a[n] [antenna facility] was built in the neighborhood." A more limited follow-up study, conducted by the same authors in Florida and appearing in The Appraisal Journal's Fall 2007 issue, also found a statistically significant negative effect on property values.