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Protect Our Open Spaces, Property Values,

and Health and Safety

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What 82% Voted for

is About to Change

In 2022, the voters of Cherry Hills Village passed an amendment to the City’s Charter to protect the city’s open spaces. The measure—which barred the city from selling public property (including parks and open spaces) or from entering into leases exceeding five years without a vote of the city’s residents—passed by an overwhelming majority of 82%. Roughly 2,800 residents voted for the amendment.

The City of Cherry Hills Village is now proposing to install 100-foot macro cell towers in three of the city’s parks and open spaces--Woodie Hollow Park, Three Ponds Park, and City Park (across the street from Cherry Hills Village Elementary School).

The equipment at the base of the towers will require roughly 2,500 square feet in each park. The city plans to put this measure on the ballot at an unknown date—the measure will ask residents to give the city the authority to negotiate and sign 20-year leases of the city’s parks with a cell tower company. The ballot measure will also ask residents to approve a change in the maximum cell tower height in the Village, from 70 feet to 100 feet.

Call to Action

"I ask you to voice your opinion to City Council on this outrageous 100' Cell Phone Plan. It will change our open spaces forever, devastate property values, and expose everyone to RF health dangers."

—Drew Damiano, Cherry Hills Resident

Save Cherry Hills Open Spaces

"Some 80 years ago, a group of concerned citizens banded together to form a coalition whose sole purpose was to protect their little town of Cherry Hills Village from encroaching commercialization.

The area's pastoral beauty with wide-open fields sprinkled with patches of cottonwoods and placid bodies of water had attracted the attention of Denver residents looking to escape the city—it also drew the attention of developers looking to add businesses and industrial plants. Thus, the Cherry Hills Improvement Association was born and thanks to their efforts, Cherry Hills Village remains commercial-free to this day."

Exploring Cherry Hills Village, Forbes Article

Destroying What Makes

Cherry Hills Village Special

Our parks are part of what makes Cherry Hills Village so special. They host varied wildlife and rich ecosystems, and residents from around the village enjoy these open spaces.

The enclosures at the bottom of these macro towers will absorb roughly 2,500 feet in each of our parks. The construction and ongoing maintenance processes will require the use of heavy-duty industrial equipment, likely driving much wildlife away and forever changing the character of our open spaces. Researchers have found that RF emissions and cell towers have negative effects on surrounding wildlife and ecosystems.

The city has not presented any environmental impact studies or information on how the towers will affect wildlife or the environment. The open spaces of Cherry Hills Village are finite and should be preserved. These macro towers don’t belong in our parks and open spaces.

In recognition of the profound damage the towers would do to our parks, the Cherry Hills Village Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee (PTRC) took up and passed a motion not to recommend approval of the plan.

We invite you to learn more by reading and sharing this document on the proposal:

Cell Tower Explainer.pdf

The Effects on Property Values

Would you buy a home with a 100' macro cell tower in your backyard? If you said NO, you'd be like the 94% of people surveyed who would not buy or rent a home next to a cell tower (click on the quote below to see study):

“The results of the 2014 NISLAPP survey suggest there is now high awareness about potential risks from cell towers and antennas, including among people who have never experienced cognitive or physical effects from the radiation.”

Property Values Could Fall by 10-30%

There is a long-standing body of research demonstrating that cell towers decrease nearby property values by 10-30%; this effect can ripple out to surrounding neighborhoods, ultimately affecting even the value of properties that are not in eyesight of the towers, due to the frequent use of “comps” in real estate transactions. In addition, one of these macro towers would be installed less than 500 feet from Cherry Hills Village Elementary School, which may concern some potential residential buyers. The city has not presented any analysis of how the towers may impact property values and, ultimately, the city’s budget.

RF Health Effects &

Emerging Research

“As more and more cell towers are being placed in close proximity to humans, more and more population-based studies are coming out suggesting adverse health effects associated with proximity to cell towers including, but not limited to, increased cancer mortality (especially lung, breast and cervical cancer), impaired cognition (specifically in children and adolescents), nausea, irritability, insomnia, and delayed fine and gross motor skills…If you read these references, the health effects extend to a radius of 500 meters around the cell towers (some references suggest 1000 meters)…

...Because of the potential harm associated with cell towers, if this proposal passes, I will likely move out of my beloved CHV to protect me and my family.”

Ari Ballonoff, CHV Resident and Radiation Oncologist

Ari Ballonoff Letter on RF Exposure.pdf

In 2021, a federal court ordered the FCC to revisit its guidelines, particularly as they pertain to children, stating that the agency’s refusal to do so was “arbitrary and capricious.”

In response to the emerging body of research on the possible negative health effects of RF emissions, municipalities around the country are requiring that cell towers be located a minimum distance (typically at least 1000 feet) from schools and residences. The Environmental Protection Agency’s school siting guidelines advise additional assessment for sites located less than 200 feet from a cell tower.

- Peer-reviewed science has linked cell tower radiation to harmful effects (PDF) Click Here >>

- Evidence for a Health Risk by RF on Humans Living around Mobile Phone Base Stations: From Radiofrequency Sickness to Cancer"

See Here >>

- “Epidemiological Evidence for a Health Risk from Mobile Phone Base Stations.”

Click Here >>

- “Mobile Phone Base Station Tower Settings Adjacent to School Buildings: Impact on Students’ Cognitive Health.”

Click Here >>

"Kathy and I are for better cell coverage, but not at the expense of everything that we hold dear to us - walking on the open space trails daily, the charm of Cherry Hills Village, our home's value, and our health. A looming 100' giant tower in our backyard is not the answer to better cell service. Lets review a better solution."

—Dan Gay, Cherry Hills Resident

Additional Safety Issues

In addition to concerns over the health effects from the towers’ RF emissions, we are concerned that the city is not locating the towers with sufficient setbacks or “fall zones.”

Most municipalities require macro cell towers to be installed a minimum distance from schools and residences, partly for aesthetic reasons but also because there are safety risks for those who live and spend time near the towers.

While rare, the towers can catch on fire or collapse/fall down (hence the term “fall zone”). A fall zone of 100% the height of the tower (to the nearest property line) is a minimal protection; some municipalities are now requiring a 300% or 400% fall zone.

The proposed locations for the towers in Cherry Hills Village fall far short of those protections. The proposed site in Woodie Hollow Park would be only 30 feet from the nearest property line; the tower in City Park would be only 35 feet from the nearest property line (and 140 feet from the grounds of CHVE); and the tower in Three Ponds would be roughly 100 feet from the nearest property line.

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