Wichita City Council in Riverside, Kansas blocked a proposal for an 80-foot T-Mobile tower on May 14, The Wichita Eagle reported. This was the second T-Mobile tower proposal denied by the council, the first being set to go on Rob Snyder’s property in Riverside one year ago.
Many residents opposed the tower, and civil rights attorney James Thompson backed a resident group in an effort to halt the proposal.
Their biggest concerns were the aesthetics of the tower, and the potential effect on property values. Council member Cindy Claycomb rallied against the proposal, and said the visual appearance of the tower was “the heart of the issue.”
Though T-Mobile claims coverage needs to improve in the area, some residents disagree. The neighbors claim there are several large towers just outside of Riverside that could be used, and that a series of small cell towers would be a better solution than one tall monopole. Over 80 percent of property owners near the proposed site signed a petition in protest to it.
According to The Wichita Eagle, the final council vote was 5-2 against the tower proposal, with James Clendenin and Bryan Frye in support of it. Clendenin pointed out that the proposal site was on commercial use zoned property, and he agreed with T-Mobile’s claims that there were large areas in Wichita with gaps in coverage. Clendenin said, “The less infrastructure we have, the wider that gap gets.”
May 21, 2019
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