ORLANDO, Fla. – A proposed cell tower has residents of a Central Florida neighborhood saying they don’t want it in their backyard.
They are calling on the city of Orlando to stop it from happening. David Grau is the president of the Meridian Parks HOA.
It’s a neighborhood of just over 600 homes in Southeast Orlando close to Innovation High School, where there are both power plants and wetlands in the area.
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“So the concern is that there’s going to be a 105 foot cell tower put into our green open space right here, a space that’s designated at the current time as parks and open space that’s going to be viewable from our entire community,” Grau said. “It’s going to be 900 feet off the closest homes, where children and children and families play in and gather.”
News 6 brought some of his concerns to the city of Orlando, which responded with this statement that says in part:
“The Federal Communications Commission’s rule FCC-18-133A1 and Florida State Statute 337.401 do not permit the City of Orlando to deny Wireless Service Providers and Wireless Infrastructure Providers access to city or county rights-of-way within the city limits. The FCC preempts cities from denying any small cell permit based on health concerns or the environmental effects of radio frequencies under Section 332(c)(7) of the Communications Act.”
City of Orlando
The communication tower is on the agenda at tomorrow’s city of Orlando Municipal Planning Board meeting where they will hear from the public before a decision is made.
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