A tiny town in Colorado is being sued following the approval of a 195-foot-tall cell phone tower.
The construction, set to be erected on the edge of town, would help cell phone service in rural Villa Grove, but nearly a third of those who live there do not want it.
They claim service would only be improved within a five-mile radius, and that there could be unknown health impacts from the installation.
Citizens are also complaining about the prospective construction’s aesthetic, as it will loom over homes located just a few hundred feet away.
Several citizens have found this unacceptable, and spoke to 9 News Friday about how they have filed a suit hoping to halt the project.
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The construction, set to be erected on the edge of Colorado’s Villa Grove (seen here), would help cell phone service in the rural area, but nearly a third of those who live there do not want it
They claim service would only be improved within a five-mile radius, and that there could be unknown health impacts from the installation. Pictured, Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing commissioners in Saguache County
‘Even our trees, which are the tallest things in town, are only about 60 feet,’ said Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing commissioners in Saguache County.
‘I’ve never sued anyone in my life, but I felt strongly enough about this that I stood up and will continue to stand up.’
‘We don’t have a lot in Villa Grove,’ added Marquita Oliver, a local reverend who doubles as the operator of the town’s marijuana dispensary.
‘We have pottery, pot, pie, a post office, and upholstery,’ the self-professed budtender said.
As for the assertions the tower would increase service in the area, several said they are happy with the reception they currently get now.
‘I have a $49 Walmart phone that works great,’ fellow fulltime resident Kim McDaniel said. ‘I get good reception.’
‘I haven’t done enough studies to know if it’s going to radiate me or anything, but if it is, I’m not for it,’ added Carol Sperry, of the telecommunication tower’s radio unseen frequency waves.
‘Cellular service is not a part of our life,’ added Philip Earing, the longtime owner of the town’s only upholstery business.
They claim service would only be improved within a five-mile radius, and that there could be unknown health impacts from the installation. Pictured, Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing commissioners in Saguache County
‘I haven’t done enough studies to know if it’s going to radiate me or anything, but if it is, I’m not for it,’ added Carol Sperry, of the telecommunication tower’s radio unseen frequency waves
‘We don’t need an 195-foot tower sitting there,’ Philip Earing, the longtime owner of the town’s only upholstery business, said after filing the suit. ‘We don’t’
‘Real ugly’, said this local, one of several who have taken issue with the telecommunications tower. ‘Everyone has cell phone service in this area. For many miles’
‘It’s not necessary’, other residents said of the proposed construction, citing how they already have perfectly good phone reception without it. ‘I have a $49 Walmart phone that works great,’ fulltime resident Kim McDaniel (right) said. ‘I get good reception’
‘I know for a lot of people it is. For people out in the city, they want to be connected all the time.
‘We don’t want to be connected,’ he proclaimed.
‘We just don’t want it to be in town,’ Earing said. ‘We’re not against the tower, just not in town.’
Earing, Maez and almost a third of the town – which has just 30 residents – are all plaintiffs in the new filing, which was first reported Friday by the NBC affiliate.
All have lived there for years, and all were outraged by the county’s decision to pass off on the tower last month.
For those in a town that hasn’t changed much in the last century let alone the past few years, such projects are concerning.
‘It will change the face of our tiny little historic town,’ Maez said during a gathering of residents taking part in the suit last week.
‘Basically right on top of our little town,’ she said. ‘195 feet of metal monstrosity.’
As of writing, the lawsuit is currently making its way through the local circuit court, ‘Our lawyer is waiting for all the evidence to come to him,’ said Maez, as a date for the project has yet to be announced
In the meantime, residents of remote Villa Grove will continue life as usual on their idyllic patch of land along Highway 285 near, the northern tip of the San Luis Valley
‘We don’t need an 195-foot tower sitting there,’ added Earing. ‘We don’t’.
As of writing, the lawsuit is currently making its way through the local circuit court,
‘Our lawyer is waiting for all the evidence to come to him,’ said Maez, as a date for the project has yet to be announced.
In the meantime, residents of remote Villa Grove will continue life as usual on their idyllic settlement along Highway 285, near the northern tip of the San Luis Valley.
Allen Yarmark runs the pottery shop in town. He’s one of the few who wants the tower.
‘If it provides better cell service in the area, then I’m all for it,’ Allen Yarmark, one of the few in favor of the tower, told 9 News Friday.
‘The people who are in direct line of sight don’t want it,’ the proprietor of the town’s only pottery shop said. ‘The people who aren’t in the line of sight – don’t really care.’
An attorney for the county reportedly refused to speak with 9 News.