This Wednesday October 26 7pm, City Council will have a public hearing and vote whether to let companies put wi-fi and other antennas wherever they want on public rights of way. That means they can put one right in front of your house, and after Wednesday October 26 you won't be able to stop them!
The city will get 2% of whatever money the companies can make. This is happening in many other cities. In Davis, CA, residents were outraged by the antennas going in, the City Manager revoked the building permits, and the city got sued. In Portland OR, the wi-fi provider went broke and the city had to pay to remove all the antennas. So far most public wi-fi services have failed (see The Economist link below).
Some photos of what the antennas may look like are attached. They are much more powerful than a regular wi-fi modem. As a biophysicist (Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley) I'm very concerned about what these will due to our health (including affecting our sleep). But they are also bad for aesthetics, property values, security from hackers, and the whole plan reduces our rights to due process by completely sidestepping zoning regulations.
I'm hoping to provide information to shoppers at the farmer's market tomorrow if anyone wants to help, but please contact our councillors, show up to the hearing, and do whatever else you can think of to stop this! -Bill
Link to The Economist article: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2013/07/wireless-networks