When Dan Hartke was visiting his sister, a neighbor approached him and asked if he knew of a proposed cell tower next to his sister’s Three Points home.

This was the first time Hartke or his sister had heard of it, and was due to be approved the following week.

“If my sister had gotten an email saying something about this, we would have tried to address it sooner,” Hartke said. Instead it was a massive rat race.”

Hartke spoke with residents on West Scotland Street over the weekend of April 14th to April 16th, distributing information about mobile phone towers. After distributing over 60 letters, he realized that none of the residents he spoke to recognized it.

On April 18, the brothers and other interested community members attended the Pima County Board of Supervisors for a hearing regarding a proposed cell tower by applicant Vertical Bridge LLC. After many residents voiced their concerns, supervisor Sharon Bronson motioned to reject the proposal after unanimous consent from Congress.

Hartke, who has worked as a real estate agent in Tucson for more than 25 years, explained that cell phone towers in residential areas can devalue nearby properties.

“I can tell you from experience, yes,” Hartke pointed out. “Every time a potential buyer comes down the street, the first thing they see is that cell tower.

The 110-foot cell tower is a project between private telecommunications infrastructure company Vertical Bridge and phone service T-Mobile. On January 17, the Vertical Bridge requested a Type III Conditional Use Permit through the Ivan R. and Margery A. Wolverton Revocable Living Trust.

The Wolvertons lived in the Three Points neighborhood for years until their home burned down in early January. Known for ‘Dead Man’ (1995), ‘Shadowhunters’ (1993) and ‘Tombstone’ (1993), the married actor has a long history in westerns. The 90-year-old couple agreed to the trust and allowed Vertical Bridge to propose a cell tower on their property.

A federal communications mandate required Pima County staff to balance bridging gaps in cell coverage with consideration for nearby property owners. In this case, as noted in the February 7 Agenda Item Report, the Oversight Board received little to no public comment on the proposal and questioned the applicant’s behavior in notifying the neighborhood. bottom.

“From the materials submitted by the applicant, it is further unclear whether the applicant undertook any public outreach,” the report said. “By independent mail or in the form of formal neighborhood meetings.”

The law firm representing Vertical Bridge said Gary Cassel, the third-party supervisor responsible for the company’s filing, died between the submission of the proposal and the February hearing.

Proposal applicants are required by county ordinance to notify residents within 1,000 feet of the proposed location. There are 34 of hers within the boundaries, and Hartke knows that he has contacted two households.

Vertical Bridge mailed out notices to residents within a 1,000-foot radius for a virtual community meeting on March 31st. He was one of only four neighbors who attended. One of them, her, indicated that mail was not being delivered directly to the property, with residents visiting the post office every month or two to pick it up. Raise it.

“It was clear that re-mailing community meeting notices had no effect,” the company wrote in the letter. “But before and after his community meetings, representatives from his bridge vertical spoke directly with residents of other communities to provide information and hear concerns.”

During the Supervisory Board meeting on April 18, a number of residents took their objections directly to the council at the tower hearing. Hartke helped his sister Sandra Richardson to the podium. The homeowner rose from her wheelchair to explain how she spends 95% of her time at home and how the tower affects her daily life.

“I am a disabled, single woman,” said Richardson. “I’ve invested heavily in my property. I can’t afford to move. This is my retirement home.”

The vertical bridge was lowered to 65 feet in height and agreed to camouflage the towers to compromise residents’ concerns. However, there was enough opposition at the April 18 meeting that Superintendent Bronson motioned to adjourn the hearings, and the council unanimously rejected the installation of the tower.

Vertical Bridge has no comments.

“Since I joined the board, I have seen a pattern of behavior at these companies,” said supervisor Rex Scott. “They are doing the absolute minimum in terms of social outreach and public contact. I hear you.”

As the cell phone base station proposal continues to provoke opposition among surrounding residents, the Pima County Commission encourages people in the area to heed the notice and address any concerns. The Board is considering how to approach Arizona on this recurring issue.