Constuction Of Portland Cell Phone Tower Starts Before Permission Is Given

By Kristian Foden-Vencil | March 3, 2010 5:32 p.m. | Updated: June 16, 2010 11:56 p.m. | Portland, OR

Discuss
Download

Please install Flash to hear the audio. Url:

Work crews started cutting a Portland sidewalk to install a new cell phone tower this week. But as Krisian Foden-Vencil reports, planning permission hadn't been given yet.  
Collin O'Neill lives across the block from where the new tower is planned.There's a 45 foot telephone pole now. But Clearwire is applying to put a 60 foot metal pole in its place. O'Neill says the company isn't even allowed to submit an application until a month after the last neighborhood meeting. That would be the first week in April.Collin O'Neill: "One thing that seems very very clear is that Clearwire  in this instance, and a lot of the other companies, are going to go ahead and do what they want to do and the city doesn't have it's regulations in a good enough place that they can really start to manage this process."A spokeswoman from Clearwire says it doesn't own the pole, but that it belongs to Pacific Power and Light. PP&L says the city asked it to start the work. Calls to the city of Portland weren't immediately returned. As more people use cell phone technology to reach the internet, more cell phone towers are expected to be built. Kristian Foden-Vencil, OPB News.

© 2010 OPB

Share this article

Discuss

blog comments powered by Disqus

Become a sponsor