Where Money Is Concerned, Consequences Don't Matter

What matters is appearance, or how something looks to us, not how it creates future causes of dysfunction.

Matt and Monique Martin were alarmed this summer when a neighbor in their south Jefferson County neighborhood said he was allowing a wireless company to erect a 35-foot-high cell tower on his agriculturally zoned property. Though the tower would be disguised as a silo, the Martins are concerned about potential health hazards of low-level radiation, especially since "this industry is so young there are very few regulations and safety checks in place."

"We are the guinea pigs, and only time will tell," the Martins wrote in a letter to neighbors.

Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, cities and counties are not allowed to consider possible health effects in deciding whether to allow towers.

Denver Post