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“I know this new technology has advantages and that there are federal and state statutes largely regulating 5G service, but I have to say that very few people in Tulsa would want this pole standing in their front yard,” City Councilor Phil Lakin said Thursday.

After months of pushback from a small but persistent group of Tulsans, the city is removing four 5G wireless communications poles from the Walnut Creek neighborhood, it said Wednesday.

Moving forward, the city will do everything it can to have the small cell units installed on light poles instead, it said in a prepared statement.

“After extensive discussions between city officials, small cell companies, neighborhood leaders, and certain members of the Tulsa City Council, we were able to produce a remedy in the Walnut Creek neighborhood area that involved the removal of four small cell poles while allowing for the co-location of those small cells on new poles in existing street light pole locations in the area,” the statement says.

Shelli Landon, who led the effort to get the 5G poles removed, joined Walnut Creek residents Wednesday for a press conference celebrating the news. Walnut Creek is in the 85th Place and Harvard Avenue area.

“Our main thing today was to thank the city officials, (Councilor) Jeannie (Cue), the mayor, the people down there at stormwater, the utilities, whoever finally made the decision to finally listen to all of us corporately, the whole team working together,” Landon said. “Thank you.”

Cue said she was grateful to Mayor G.T. Bynum and Streets and Stormwater Director Terry Ball for their efforts to address residents’ concerns.

“It just takes a team,” Cue said. “We can get things done working together.”

But Landon stressed that the city’s action, while appreciated, is not enough.

“We also got together to tell them that now that we have 5G out of here, we don’t want a switcheroo if they’re just going to put it up on light poles that already exist, because the 5G signals are dangerous,” Landon said.

Landon, who has said she’s a cancer survivor, is concerned about the potential health risks the 5G cells could present and their potential to decrease property values.

Cue shares Landon’s concerns about the potential effect on property values, and she said she’s frustrated that residents have not received prior notice from telecommunications companies before the poles are installed.

Landon said she wants to see fiber optic technology used, instead.

“Fiber optics has no ill effects from the radiation factors, and it doesn’t disturb the property value, and it is a faster delivery technology for the internet,” she said. “So we are asking everybody to download this form from petition5g.org; fill it out; notarize it if you can.”

According to the American Cancer Society, there is no strong evidence that radio frequency waves from cellphone towers cause cancer.

“However, this does not mean that the RF waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe,” the organization’s website states. “Most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects.”

The city of Tulsa has limited authority over where telecommunications companies install 5G towers, but it does issue permits before the devices are installed.

As of February, the city had permitted 350 small cell device locations, with another 25 pending. At that time, AT&T, Verizon, Mobilitie and U.S. Cellular had applied for permits to install poles.

The city has no plans to remove any other existing 5G poles. City officials say the plan moving forward is to co-locate 5G cells where street lights already exist.

City Councilor Phil Lakin visited the site of a 5G tower in his district on Wednesday and said he was troubled by the size of the poles and where they have been installed.

“I know this new technology has advantages and that there are federal and state statutes largely regulating 5G service, but I have to say that very few people in Tulsa would want this pole standing in their front yard,” he said. “It’s the size of a telephone pole and sits almost 8 feet from the curb.

“I’m going to continue to push the city and state to find ways to prevent new utilities like this from being added in neighborhoods above ground.”

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“I know this new technology has advantages and that there are federal and state statutes largely regulating 5G service, but I have to say that very few people in Tulsa would want this pole standing in their front yard,” City Councilor Phil Lakin said Thursday.

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