Irvine Residents Prevail Against NewPath Plan to Install 23 Cell Sites in Neighborhood


After considering the impacts of Newpath’s proposal for 23 street light antenna sites in an Irvine residential development, the city’s council rejected the plan this week. Glendale Organized Against Cell Towers and its regional coalition members celebrated the decision and congratulated Irvine community members who have fought the plan for months.

Around 100 Turtle Rock residents came to city hall Tuesday and waited three hours to show their disapproval of the project. City Council members complimented the residents on their concern and professionalism.

Organizers and city officials fear Newpath may go to court (again) to try to force the antennas into the neighborhood, but Mayor Sukhee Kang, Mayor Pro Tem Larry Agran, and Council members Christina Shea, Steven Choi and Beth Krom all heard the residents’ concerns and voted to reject the proposal.

This is the second round for NewPath and Turtle Rock residents, who didn’t want their neighborhood turned into an antenna farm; the company was denied permits over a year ago and waged an unsuccessful lawsuit against the city that was affected by cases including the September 2008 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Sprint v. County of San Diego (see previous posts on that case here and here).

According to the Orange County Register,

NewPath, a “carrier’s carrier” that sells services to various other cellular providers, wanted to graft antennas onto 23 newly built light poles connected by 22,000 feet of underground fiber optic cabling. The newer poles would replace the leaner light poles that line Turtle Rock streets.

While some residents have argued that NewPath’s plan would do away with the cell service dead-zones that plague portions of Turtle Rock, council members argued that the towers aren’t compatible with the nearby neighborhood.