Wake school board weighs cell tower proposal as neighbors raise concerns

North Raleigh residents are asking the Wake County Public School System to reconsider a cell tower project at Brassfield Road Elementary, which would generate revenue for the school district but appear unsightly to some residents.

Residents have also raised concerns about the potential health effects of radio frequency radiation, though research hasn’t concluded that the radiation causes cancer.

It’s the latest opposition to building such towers on school property, as some school boards across the country have recently passed measures prohibiting cell towers on or near their schools.

In recent years, school districts nationwide have restricted new cell towers on or near campuses, including in Loudoun County, Va., and Palo Alto, Calif.

A moratorium put in place by the Loudoun County School Board prohibited new builds for five years in 2024. 

Wake has already leased land for cell towers at at least five campuses, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue, since the late 1990s.

The Wake school board plans to hold an in-depth conversation about the proposal, featuring a presentation from the school district, during its facilities committee meeting on Oct. 13. A vote on the project would likely be on Oct. 20.

Janine Janicelli, a resident of the Forest Brook neighborhood and cancer survivor, thought the Board should do thorough research before moving forward with the project.

“I really feel in my heart [that] if all of them do the proper research, get the proper research done, they will think twice,” she told WRAL News.

Ahead of the expected Oct. 20 vote, Janicelli and four other people who said they lived near the school showed up to the Wake school board meeting this past Tuesday to urge the board not to vote for it. They raised health concerns regarding radio frequencies emitted by the towers and the impact on the “look and value” of surrounding properties.

Several speakers at the Oct. 6 meeting said research on the cell towers’ health effects is mixed, but still emphasized that the appearance of the cell tower will reduce their property values.

One suggested a shorter tower.

Board leadership Tuesday assured those who commented on the cell tower project that the board will hold a discussion on it a week before any vote, answering many questions, including questions that board members had.

The American Cancer Society says that current research doesn’t support the idea that cell towers can cause cancer.

A mandatory legal notice of the Brassfield Road project, published last month, shows expected rental income from the 199-foot tower to be $30,000 the first year, with a 3% increase annually after that.

Raleigh-based APC Towers would install the tower. The proposed Brassfield tower would stretch nearly 200 feet into the air, dressed and designed to look like a pine tree.

APC Towers told WRAL News the project is designed to “address a significant gap in wireless coverage in the area. Reliable connectivity is an important part of public safety, particularly when it comes to emergency communications and the ability to make 911 calls.’

The company notes its project meets regulatory requirements, including for radio-frequency emissions, and that towers are common at sites that have children at them.

“Our goal with the Brassfield project is straightforward: improve connectivity, support public safety and make a meaningful investment in the school and surrounding community,” the company wrote.

It wouldn’t be the first cell tower placed on Wake school property.

Wake has leased land to wireless phone companies for cell towers for decades, earning tens of thousands of dollars in annual rent from each one of them.

A 2016 school district presentation to the board shows four towers at three campuses, the first one placed in 1997 at Sanderson High School. It notes the potential for revenue growth for the district as demand for cell towers rises to support growing cellphone use. It noted the potential to expand the number of towers and quadruple its then nearly $200,000 in annual revenue from the four towers. The presentation also lists thousands of cell towers on government-owned land in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, South Carolina and Florida, including hundreds on Maryland school property.

In a message sent to parents, Brassfield Road’s principal, Jeff Kleiber, notes at least two added since then, near West Lake elementary and middle schools in Apex and near Heritage elementary and middle schools in Wake Forest.

“Locating a facility on Board property generates additional non-tax revenue for the school district and improves communications services on campus,” Kleiber says in his message. “In addition to the financial benefits, APC Towers has agreed to construct a fire truck access lane on the north side of the school building as part of the tower access improvements. This improvement provides a lasting benefit to the school campus.”