Milpitas residents raise concerns over neighborhood 5G small cell installations

Earlier this year, in February, Robert Chapman was at his home in Milpitas when he noticed utility workers outside his window, drawing lines on the street. 

He stepped out to ask what was going on. 

“They told me they were just doing road work,” Chapman told The Beat. “That was all I got out of them.” 

A few months later, he noticed more workers on his street. This time, they had a jackhammer, and they were drilling pilot holes in the ground. 

This was at 8am. 

They soon approached Chapman and asked him if he would move his vehicle. 

“I told them, usually there are notifications and you inform people, when you’re doing this kind of work,” Chapman said. 

At first, he refused to move his car. But they continued to ask, saying they didn’t want to scratch or damage his vehicle. So finally, he relented. 

The workers kept drilling the holes. 

Chapman went out to speak to the project manager and ask what was going on. The project manager told him they would be “running fiber” — running a conduit underground to a pole down the street. 

“He didn’t give me any details or anything. I thought, that seems pretty innocuous, for the most part,” said Chapman. “But I had no idea they would come back eventually and put a big utility box there.” 

Although Chapman wasn’t made aware of it at the time, the workers were on his street in preparation for the mounting of small cell facilities.

5G Deployment  

Stories about small cell facilities have been popping up across different news outlets recently, due to the fact that various neighborhoods have been pushing back against these wireless structures, citing concerns over health and safety. 

A small cell facility, which consists of antennas and radio equipment, is a compact piece of technology that is used to boost mobile network capability. In order to provide 5G capability, small cell facilities are mounted in neighborhoods on streetlights or utility poles. 

When The Beat reached out to the City of Milpitas to ask how many small cell facilities are currently up in Milpitas, the Public Information Officer said that there were currently over 20 of them in construction or near completion. 

In 2021, Crown Castle formed a partnership with Verizon in an effort to widen 5G’s reach across communities. 

A Crown Castle representative told The Beat that per their agreement, they sent out letters of notification via USPS to every Milpitas resident within 300 feet of each small cell, two weeks prior to the start of construction.

“The city approves each residential address that is sent a letter of notification,” shared Mark Guillen from Crown’s Castle’s external affairs department. “‘No parking’ signs are placed 72 hours prior to construction. Door hangers with contact information are physically placed 1 day prior to every home within 300 feet of construction.” 

Health Concerns 

But several residents who spoke with The Beat are claiming that they received no notification whatsoever about the construction.  

In the case of Kaveri Rangaraj, who lives in a different neighborhood from Chapman, notification about construction did come to her by mail. Her home is only four houses away from one of Crown Castle’s planned installations, on Skyline Drive. She discovered that Crown Castle was coming out to install the small cell unit when she received a letter from them on October 24.  

“The letter said that they would be coming to install on November 12,” said Rangaraj in an interview with The Beat. 

Rangaraj instantly felt concerned about how exactly these small cell facilities would impact the health and safety of the residents. 

Small cell facilities emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation; since they are mounted in neighborhoods where people live, some residents are worried about long-term exposure to them. 

The World Health Organization says that there is no proven risk from exposure to RF. However, a recent study published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine found that people who had higher levels of RF in their homes and/or were exposed to it from outside sources – like small cell facilities, towers, and antennas – reported more health issues than those who lived further away from RF. 

On October 30, Rangaraj went over to the Milpitas City Hall and expressed her concern about the facilities to one of the civil engineers. “They told me that the federal and state had already given the permission and that Milpitas couldn’t say no,” Rangaraj said. 

Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the federal government has the authority to enhance nationwide wireless coverage. The law prohibits cities like Milpitas from taking any action that would deny wireless service.

In 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a Small Cell Order which basically set the limits on any local control over small wireless facilities. The order was intended to essentially remove any barriers that might stand in the way of deploying 5G infrastructure to neighborhoods across the country. 

But that hasn’t stopped Milpitas residents from attending City Council meetings to speak out about their dissatisfaction with the implementation of small cell facilities. 

“Since we don’t know what the risks are of 24/7 radio frequency bombardment, we need to be safe,” said one Milpitas resident during Public Comment at a Milpitas City Council meeting in November. “If we can provide some distance from the cell tower, that might be a reasonable solution instead of having it so close to the homes.” 

Next Steps 

Although it has no ability to stop the construction of small cell facilities, the City of Milpitas has been working to ensure that the community’s concerns are heard. As one measure, they published this page on their website to explain small cell facilities to residents. 

They also held a virtual Town Hall meeting in November and another meeting at the Milpitas Community Center earlier this month. The City of Milpitas’ public information officer told The Beat that they’ve been working to verify whether carriers fully complied with required notifications and conducting field inspections to confirm noise compliance, proper labeling and pole appearance, and safety clearances. 

At present, there are over 40 fully permitted applications for small cell installations in Milpitas. And as networks continue to expand, additional applications are expected through 2026. 

 ”Wireless carriers have the legal right under federal law to deploy small cells to improve 5G coverage, increase network capacity, and support reliable emergency communication,” shared the City’s Public Information Officer. “While the City cannot ban these facilities, regulate them based on radio-frequency emissions, or slow down permit timelines, we do regulate aesthetics, equipment size, construction safety, and use of the public right-of-way.”  

During December’s community meeting, many residents continued to express their concerns over health and safety, and their worry that the facilities were being placed too close to their homes. Some brought up their concern for the health of children and the elderly. One resident suggested putting the small cell facilities in parks; another suggested raising the devices higher off the ground so that they’re further away from families. 

Gunawan Alisantosa, who served on the Milpitas School Board for eight years, also lives in close proximity to a small cell facility site. He has been working with Rangaraj and others in the community to raise awareness about the issue and find solutions. 

“I wish this could’ve been done better as far as the location. But unfortunately, look at what happened now,” said Alisantosa at this December’s community meeting. “There are a lot of worries and many different feelings. Moving forward, I hope there’s better coordination, so that everyone’s happy.”  

One resident came forward and stated that Milpitas was in need of improved wireless technology. He talked about how, during an emergency, he was unable to get service near the hillside area. 

“It’s definitely needed, because as society grows, this stuff is everywhere. We can’t live without phones. We can’t even make emergency calls. I’ve been through it and it’s pretty bad,” the resident said. “We definitely need more cell towers up the hillside.” 

Mayor Carmen Montano, who has been meeting with different residents to discuss their concerns over the issue, expressed her desire to figure out a solution and stated that Crown Castle failed to do outreach to the community. 

At the end of that meeting, Councilmember Evelyn Chua suggested looking into crafting specific policies in the City for small cell facilities. Despite federal limits on local authority, different communities have adopted their own ordinances in regard to small cell deployments, such as setback requirements in cities like Los Altos and Petaluma. These ordinances still conform to federal requirements, but focus on aesthetics, keeping more distance from homes or schools, and public notification processes. 

At the meeting, Councilmember Chua also asked Crown Castle and others from the City of Milpitas if they could revisit the sites and see if other locations were possible. They all agreed to pause and evaluate this possibility as a next step. 

However, when The Beat reached out to Crown Castle after the meeting, they said they would be continuing to move forward as planned. In fact, two days after the community meeting, Chapman saw more people come out onto his street to do construction work – again, without having notified residents beforehand.  

“Crown Castle is committed to providing the best in class telecommunication infrastructure for the community of Milpitas,” shared Mark Guillen. “We continue to work with the City staff to complete the last 12 nodes, which are on track to be completed by the end of January 2026.”

Rangaraj stressed to The Beat that the intention isn’t to ban 5G from being implemented in Milpitas, but to make it so that the technology was in safe proximity away from residents’ homes. 

“We want to embrace technology. We’re not saying we don’t want it,” said Rangaraj. “But put it in a safer place.”