Regarding the Gazette article “5G poles remain on dunes in Dewey Beach,” we wish to note that the solution Dewey Town Council and our group have separately suggested to Verizon is simply to move the poles to the Route 1 median in town. The median is within the 1,000-foot broadcast distance of the beach, an acceptable distance according to Verizon’s own published statements.
But instead, the delays well described in the article are due to Verizon publicly proposing (without an application yet) to move the poles to side streets, actually much closer to Dewey residents and, in fact, in front of many of their homes.
Nearby Rehoboth installations by Verizon and AT&T have been placed on the Rehoboth Avenue median, with Verizon abandoning the concept of 16-18 poles along the Boardwalk’s easternmost edge, as published in the Gazette the prior week. And Rehoboth has required carriers to conceal their equipment in existing street lamps refashioned to fit the antenna.
Since Verizon itself has demonstrated that it does not need sand dune placement to broadcast its signals, removing the poles from the dunes and placing them with shrouds on the median enjoys wide support and is well modeled nearby.
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