INDIANAPOLIS — There are 5G cell towers going up all over the city and homeowners are looking for answers to their questions.
Eric White serves as president of North Willow Farms HOA. He's been working for months to help HOAs across central Indiana get answers to their many questions about 5G.
"I feel like I have answered thousands of questions over the past few months," White said.
White shared with 13News that for the most part, 5G has already made itself at home in many housing additions like theirs.
The 5G towers are the first of several. The placement map below shows towers in red are the 5G towers awaiting final approval.
"The ones that were green, those were already approved when we first found out about the roll out," White said.
White isn't 100 percent sure they can do anything about the towers.
One of his neighbors called him, alarmed after seeing a publication about the towers coming to their neighborhood.
Contractors spent most of a Wednesday afternoon installing a 5G tower on Huckleberry Court on Indy's northwest side.
White told 13News the top concerns from his neighbors include their health, their property values and the process about where the towers are placed.
He is also concerned the big cell phone companies have not reached out to homeowners about the 5G towers.
"A privately-owned company should not be able to just come onto your property and build a tower," White said. "We feel that there needs to be some kind of process for how this would unfold that involves communication and prepares home owners for what is about to happen."
White and his neighbors plan to attend a Sept. 15 variance meeting about 5G towers. They hope to convince cell phone companies to at least rethink tower placement.
White said the variance meetings require public notice before the meeting dates. He believes that's the time to speak up, not only to learn more about the impact of the towers, but also an opportunity to express concerns about one being placed in front of your home.
"Literally, guys, not 50 feet from where they put this tower in someone's front yard, there is a corner right here of common area that could have been used. It's just absurd," White said.
13News reached out to Verizon Wireless about the 5G tower concerns expressed by homeowners in central Indiana. Verizon emailed the following statement to 13News:
"Verizon takes very seriously the health and safety of our employees and customers, and of all residents in the communities we serve. All Verizon facilities, including the small cells that Verizon is deploying to provide 5G service, are required to comply with the FCC safety standards. For more information, please visit wirelesshealthfacts.com.
Also, we should note that 5G service in Indianapolis is not new. Indy was one of the first cities in the world to get 5G service when we launched Verizon 5G Home there nearly two years ago (October 2018). And just last weekend, Verizon 5G played an important role in helping bring fans closer to the action at the Indy 500.
I don't believe there is definitive evidence that cell sites of any kind have a negative impact on property values. I would argue that a 5G-equipped neighborhood would be a very attractive location for people and businesses to live and invest in. Recent evidence shows that access to solid, consistent wireless coverage and capacity is a major factor with today's homebuyers. In fact, it is of extreme importance to Millennials. A recent survey by RootMetrics found that cellular service is of major importance to homebuyers (76% of responders) and more important than schools (60%) when looking for a home. And broadband internet access (the kind provided by 5G service) is even more important because of COVID-19 restrictions, for things like remote work, online schools, content streaming, etc."