Photo courtesy of the City of St. Pete Beach
Attendees expressed anger with St. Pete Beach Commission at the Feb. 10 meeting.
Many residents at the Tuesday night meeting showed support for an ordinance that would limit wireless tower construction in St. Pete Beach.
However, the meeting began with an update from the City Attorney Ralf Brooks, derailing the vote.
Expert Delay
Brooks told the Commission the City received an expert report on Friday evening, Feb. 6. By Tuesday, the City had not had a chance to fully review and implement the opinion. Consequently, Brooks advised pushing the vote until next session and updating the ordinance language.
Mayor Petrila pushed to keep the cell tower ordinance on the agenda for discussion. The mayor said that a large group came to speak on the tower issue and should be able to.
St. Pete Beach Commission Discusses 5G
Tons of Towers
District 4 Commissioner Jon Maldonado spoke on just how densely telecom’s are constructing towers.
“St. Pete Beach has 35 wireless infrastructures not including rooftop nodes,” said Maldonado. “In comparison, Treasure Island has 11 total including rooftop nodes. So there is obviously a problem with over placement.”
Residents showed that they agreed with him. Residents unanimously spoke out against the cell towers, expressing very one-sided opinions.
Resident Kelly Lee McFrederick spoke about the ordinance specifying that the City should not build towers within 30 feet of a residence. She claims “the tower in front of my house is 24 feet away from my house.” This feeling was echoed by resident Lauren Mones who accused AT&T and other telecoms of bullying the Commission.
“We have a stake in this, AT&T doesn’t… I pay into the city, AT&T doesn’t. AT&T makes money off of the city,” Mones stated.
Towers of Terror
Additionally, attendee Ronald Vigneault turned on an Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF) detector during his comment. An EMF reads electro-magnetic waves, like radio or cellular, and clicks audibly while an arrow displays the intensity of waves around you.
Over the light clicking of the EMF detector, Vigneault spoke of his distrust related to 5G’s effects on health and the associated studies.
“You see that on the needles? That kills people, and I don’t care what this company says in their studies… They are playing with our lives,” warned Vigneault pointing to his EMF reader.
The City has faced threats of lawsuits by AT&T and other telecom providers regarding the proposed ordinance. AT&T alleges the proposed ordinance runs afoul of state law and will challenge it in court if implemented. State law does not allow an ordinance to restrict tower placements based on minimum distances.
The currently proposed ordinance sets both a restriction from edges of property lines and distance between towers, both of which are at issue legally, warned Brooks. Brooks highlighted the importance of getting the language correct because if anyone challenges any part of the ordinance, it could lead to striking the entire ordinance.
The Other Side
Matt Mucci had the unenviable position of representing AT&T at the meeting. At his mention of AT&T the crowd began to “boo” and jeer.
Mucci claimed that AT&T “has a great relationship with some residents.” This comment received more audience objections.
However, Mucci went on to claim disappointment, because he said he thought “we had reached an agreement with the city.”
The mayor, however, pushed back. He clarified for the record and Mucci that the Commission has not made any agreement until it takes a vote. Mucci reiterated that the problem with the ordinance is the state law, and that someone has to make changes in Tallahassee first.
The Commission ultimately decided to break the ordinance into two parts. One ordinance should be able to be passed swiftly, and one still needs to tackle the issues at odds with state law. The city council will discuss both of these ordinances at the next session.
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