Laguna Hills Residents Protest Cell Tower They Say Was Illegally Approved
LAGUNA HILLS (CBSLA.com) — More than 100 upset homeowners gathered at a town hall in Laguna Hills Tuesday evening to protest a planned cell phone tower in their neighborhood that they say was illegally approved.
The residents say their homeowner association acted in bad faith by secretly negotiating with Verizon Wireless to erect a cell phone tower near their 900-unit community. Last week, the city approved the permit, they said.
"The [HOA] needed a two-thirds vote, they needed to send out ballots," resident Maria Tagarao said. "Ballots were never sent out ... It's outrageous."
The protesters are the latest in a long string of activists to protest cell towers in Southern California communities.
To draw attention to their cause, protesters hired a blimp lit in neon green, displaying a ticker that read, "Illegal land lease???"
Laguna Hills resident Larry Fleming said he hoped the attention would convince Verizon to reconsider the deal.
"We're hoping that Verizon recognizes that the community is not happy with it," he said. "Hopefully Verizon will find a way to work with the association and find a way to back out of this."