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ST. GEORGE — Protesting a planned cellphone tower, concerned homeowners braved the rain Thursday to hold picket signs and proclaim “no Verizon on our horizon.”
The demonstration was held at the Sunbrook Golf Club, where organizers raised orange weather balloons to demonstrate the height of the planned Verizon Wireless tower. Community members at the event huddled under umbrellas as they raised their signs and listened to each other speak about how the cellphone tower would negatively impact them.
The 80-foot high tower is slated to be built just across the city line in Santa Clara, and would spoil the mountain views and lower the property values for homeowners in Sunbrook Communities in St. George, said Menlo Smith, an original developer for Sunbrook and protest organizer.
“Verizon could go any of a number of different places with that tower, but they have chosen what I think is just an ignominious, terrible disgrace of a location for that tower,” Smith said. “It will be the absolutely dominating feature of that entire view zone.”
Verizon’s tower would be in the way of the “iconic” views of Pine Valley Mountain, Red Mountain and Snow Canyon for residents and visitors at Sunbrook, Smith said.
Since the tower was approved by the city council of border-sharing neighbor Santa Clara in August, Smith has now filed a lawsuit against the city for approving the cell tower.
“We’re not opposed to a tower,” Smith said. “We just think the tower should go in a place that is appropriate for a cell tower like that, not in the middle of one of the most scenic views in the Southwest.”
To read the full story, visit St. George News.
