Verizon Telecommunications Company has erected a 5G antenna pole on Wilmington Avenue next to the Boardwalk in downtown Rehoboth Beach that is an undisputed example of ugly.
When we reconstructed the Boardwalk back in 2009, we went to great lengths to install attractive street lamps. Several years ago when Rehoboth Beach completed the Rehoboth Avenue streetscape project, they again went to great pains to select architecturally attractive street lamps. AT&T, in recent years, has installed 5G antennas on structures that match the design and function of the Rehoboth Avenue street lamps. So we know it is possible to erect aesthetically pleasing 5G antennas.
The city has spent many thousands of dollars on consultants for the Wilmington/Baltimore streetscape project that is now in the planning stages. We also spent many thousands of dollars on consultants and lawyer hours revising and amending Rehoboth Beach Ordinance 270-46.1.2.
This new 5G antenna array does not use an existing pole. A brand-new, ugly, brown-green, chemically treated wooden pole adorned with various unsightly electrical boxes attached to the sides along with what appear to be antenna arrays and a cylinder antenna sticking up on top was installed. No attempt seems to have been made to hide or camouflage the small-cell components. They even added a cheap cobra street light that is different from the Boardwalk street lamps.
If Rehoboth Beach does not enforce and stand behind our ordinances, who will?
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