A new 200-foot Verizon tower has Holbrook, Arizona residents worried they will be robbed of their sense of “peace and tranquility,” White Mountain Independent reported. The tower plans have received opposition from Navajo County planners since June 2015. In an attempt to appease the County Planning Commission and local landowners, Verizon, represented by Sun State Towers, agreed to move the proposed site to a more secluded area, paint the tower to blend in with the landscape, and install no lights.
Still, permanent residents in the area had reservations about the tower. Their concerns were potential health risks from electronic emissions, aesthetics, affect on property values, and the belief that it was unnecessary based on residents’ claims of no cell service issues. In August 2015, local residents Samantha and Eric Morrow considered working with Sun State Towers to have a tower installed on their land, but showed resistance to the current tower plans. According to the Independent, Samantha Morrow said the tower builders just want to “ruin our valley for money,” and Eric Morrow agreed that the motivations behind the tower were only “about money.”
Speaking for Sun State Towers, Michelle Lamoureaux assured residents the only danger to property values was the current issue of poor cell service in the area, and pointed out how many towers have withstood severe storms and hurricanes in the recent past.
County Supervisor Steve Williams acknowledged the residents’ concerns, but ultimately voted in support of the tower based on his experience with unreliable cell service in the area. Williams said, “I wish everyone could get what they wanted, but sometimes they can’t.”
October 31, 2018
