Castle Rock Town Council has given the green light to the construction of a new T-Mobile communications tower in Butterfield Crossing Park amid mixed feelings from surrounding residents.
The council’s unanimous approval of the tower follows an earlier rejection of a plan that would have put a tower in Bison Park.
The communications tower will be a 35-foot-tall structure attached to the Butterfield Crossing Park’s pool locker room and will house T-Mobile 5G technology. Under a lease agreement, T-Mobile agreed to pay $3,500 per month for the first year with a 3% annual increase. The lease term is five years with the option to extend.
Most of the comments from residents at the March 19 council meeting were in opposition to the tower, citing possible health concerns and the potential to harm property values. The closest homes are roughly 470 feet from the tower. Meadow View Elementary School is also near the park.
“Given its proximity to an elementary school, a playground and all of the homes surrounding it, there could be a very large amount of wireless radiation signals all day everyday,” Abbey Meraz said. “My main concern is health, but I’m also concerned about home values.”
According to the American Cancer Society, there is no strong evidence linking radio frequency from cell towers to health impacts, but more research is needed to know the long-term effects. The Federal Communications Commission says radio frequency from communication towers is “typically thousands of times below safety limits.”
Some neighbors said they supported the tower because of the need for more dependable cell service.
“I carry my cell phone in a holster on my belt because when you’re 85 years old, you want to be sure that you have access to help if you need it,” Fred Walhof said. “If I have to get help for (my wife), I want to be able to get help and for that I need a reliable signal.”
Council member Laura Cavey, who works for Verizon, said she empathized with residents’ concerns, but worried about the public safety impact of poor access to cell service.
“I think we have a safety issue for folks who are older or maybe they have a loved one with some kind of health issue,” Cavey said.
She added that she felt the design of the tower is conspicuous enough to blend in and not affect the character of the area.
A previous plan to build the tower in Bison Park was shot down after outcry from residents in that area raised similar concerns. However, the council felt building the tower in Butterfield Crossing Park was a better fit because the tower will be attached to an existing building and the park is already home to another cell tower.
While other sites in town were explored, town staff and a representative for T-Mobile said there is limited space in Castle Rock to build communications infrastructure because of the ridgelines and terrain.
As part of the construction of the tower, T-Mobile will also build an accessible pathway near the pool locker rooms.