Proposed Verizon cell tower gets bad reception from El Dorado Hills community

EL DORADO HILLS — A rural community in El Dorado County is upset about a proposed Verizon cellphone tower being built in their neighborhood.

"The tower itself will not fit the area. This is a rural area," said David Gersten, an El Dorado Hills resident.

Gersten said he and his neighbors learned about four months ago that a proposed Verizon cellphone tower could be coming to their neck of the woods on Malcolm Dixon Road in El Dorado Hills.

"What we're going to be seeing from the decks of our homes and our pastures is an antenna," Gersten said.

According to a notice they received from the Planning and Building Department of El Dorado County, it would be a monopine tower — meaning it would be disguised as a pine tree — that would be about 108 feet tall.

Aside from not wanting to look at it, Gersten said many of them have animals and children that play outside, which raises questions about health concerns.

"We are also worried about what will occur and what will happen with our animals because of the radio frequency as well as the noise," Gersten said.

Verizon's coverage map shows the area of Malcolm Dixon Road in red, which means they have "5G Ultra Wideband." So neighbors are not sure why a cell tower is needed in that area.

"That is a big concern. There are a couple of other towers behind you that are up the road a bit. They're only 40-50 feet tall. They could add to those and run those up 100-200 feet," said Steve Ulrich, another resident in the area.

We reached out to Verizon but did not get a response before this story was published.

Current neighbors said they plan to attend a planning commission meeting next month to voice their concerns.