Verizon plan to install 5G poles along popular Jersey Shore beach stirs uproar

Residents of a Jersey Shore borough and representatives from Verizon Wireless will clash Tuesday evening over a plan to install 5G towers along a popular stretch of beach. 

Officials in Spring Lake will hear public comments on an application from Verizon to install six 5G small cell utility poles along Ocean Avenue as part of a push by the telecommunications giant to expand its 5G network in New Jersey that has many residents in uproar. Locals say construction of the 35-ft. towers would disrupt beach activities and threaten the environment, as well as be an unwanted eyesore on the beloved coastline. 

Verizon argues that additional wireless capacity is needed along the beach and that the 5G towers, which are designed to look like streetlights, will ultimately be a benefit to the borough. 

“Over the summer months there is an exceptional increase of visitors to the Borough’s beaches. That increased demand on Verizon Wireless’ network far outstrips available capacity which, in turn, has inhibited the ability of residents and visitors to make and receive phone calls or text messages or use their devices to access the internet,” Verizon said in an application with Spring Lake to install the 5G towers. “This application will help ameliorate this serious wireless capacity problem.” 

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Spring Lake Councilman Edwin Hale told FOX Business he is “staying open-minded” about Verizon’s proposal, but expects several residents and other officials in the municipality to oppose the plan at Tuesday’s Mayor & Council Meeting, which will open at 6 p.m. 

“Tonight’s really a test to see what kind of opposition to it our residents have,” Hale said.

Verizon did not respond to a request for comment. 

Opponents of Verizon’s proposal formed the group Spring Lake Against 5G Towers, which is represented by the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit led by former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Children’s Health Defense is also involved in a similar effort to stop Verizon’s 5G towers in nearby Belmar.

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“One of the things we are concerned about along with the impact to people is the effect to the environment,” Children’s Health Defense attorney Scott McCollough told NJ.com earlier this year. 

Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican whose district stretches along the Jersey Shore, told FOX Business his office has heard from several constituents who have voiced concerns over “potential detrimental impacts of 5G towers on the aesthetic quality of their neighborhoods, the local environment and wildlife, health and property values.” 

“The implementation of 5G is meant to advance telecommunications networks, but it cannot and should not be done at the expense of valued local input or under unreasonable time constraints,” Smith said. 

He has introduced legislation, called the Securing Local Communities Input in Broadband Development Act, which aims to reverse federal regulations that critics say unfairly advantage the telecommunications industry against residents in the face of community opposition to infrastructure projects.

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Spring Lake Mayor Jennifer Naughton has said the municipality is in an “open conversation” with Verizon over its application for a waiver that would allow the company to install the 5G towers. Naughton said in June that the council is “adamantly opposed” to poles along Ocean Avenue and Prospect Avenue, although officials are willing to hear proposed alternatives from Verizon, The Coast Star reported. 

Hale also expressed a willingness to hear about any “other options” that are available to expand Verizon’s 5G network while preserving residents’ view of the beach.

“Is there a need for the towers in the first place?” Hale said when asked what concerns he and other council members would like to address at Tuesday’s meeting. He suggested that alternative plans might involve placing the 5G towers off the ocean-front or perhaps using Cellular on Wheels, or COW vehicles during periods of high demand on Verizon’s network.

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The councilman observed that Verizon will also need permission from Monmouth County before the project can move forward. 

“My gut feeling is that the municipality and the residents will be opposed to something like this,” Hale said. “There may be alternatives to make it less offensive.”