Concerns rise over placement of cell tower

Concerns have been rising by the day by parents of children attending Kids Inc. in the Palladio due to a Verizon cell phone tower being built nearly 15 feet away from the daycare facility. Construction plans for the tower have been in the works since September of 2013, but Kids Inc. Owner Kelli Vaccaro, who opened her business in January of 2017, had no knowledge of the plans when she signed her lease, she said. "We are a preschool and after-school program. We have children starting here at six weeks old all the way up to 12 years old," Vaccaro said. "This was the first school I've opened, and I've been in the childcare industry for 14 years. I had no idea about the cell tower plans and the location of my daycare would have been something I would've reconsidered if I knew." After six months of opening Kids Inc., it was at capacity, so Vaccaro started planning an expansion with the idea of having a location on each side of Folsom. Her second location is on Prairie City Road and opened just a few weeks back. "Unfortunately, due to this current situation that we had no idea about when signing the lease, I have about 30 families that have put in their notice to leave. That has been really difficult," she said. "I've contacted management at the Palladio, and they keep referring me to the same information that Verizon says this thing is safe and there are no issues. If you look at the research, there's not a lot of proof out there one way or another about it." According to Heidi Flato, who handles Verizon's pacific market public relations, the cell tower is 4G and will stand 80 feet tall. The Telegraph sat down with multiple concerned parents, who ultimately plan to remove their children from Vaccaro's facility once the cell tower is complete. Stacy Williams, who has three of her four children at Kids Inc., said her biggest concern is the health and well-being of all of the children there. "I have concerns for adults as well, but for children, they don't have a choice where they go each day. They go where we take them," Williams said. "Adults, we can choose whether or not we decide to be in a building all day long if there is a questionable health concern - just like if we choose to drink or smoke. Our children don't have that choice." Williams said it's hard to find openings for three children for daycare, but she plans to remove her children once the tower is complete. "We love Kelli. She takes excellent care of my children, so I would consider her other location," Williams said. Williams had done as much research as she could, but with cell phones and cell phone towers still being fairly new technology, she said there is no way to know the long-term effects so soon. "Is this the smartest thing to be doing? There are so many places to put the tower, but you choose to put it next to a daycare?" said Lisa MacLean, who has a 2- and 3-year old attending Kids Inc. "Put it in the parking. Why are we putting this over children? We don't know what the long-term effects are." MacLean said currently there's construction occurring while the kids are in playground. "Accidents at construction sites happen all the time. Construction can fall on the kids and cement dust can be blowing in their face all day," MacLean said. "I asked the Palladio what they are doing to make sure the kids are safe with the construction, and they said that the security guy drives around all day. What is he going to do? We want to know and they are doing nothing." According to MacLean, the building permit mentions an elementary school nearby. "In the paperwork, there is a note about Gold Ridge Elementary being close, but no mention of the day care. The school is a mile away. If it wasn't an issue, why was it mentioned in the report?"she said. Williams said the paperwork that the Palladio submitted to show what the facility was doesn't label the building as a daycare facility. "It was considered an entertainment center, not a daycare facility, so Verizon wasn't even aware to the fact that that was a child care facility," Williams said. Parent Carrie Palermo has two children at Kids Inc. and is also an employee at a nearby business in the Palladio. "I haven't pulled my kids yet, but I'm waiting to see how things pan out," she said. "I work right by the tower, and I have another 35 years to work. I think other than the safety concerns, one of the big issues is that no one really knew about it. My management didn't even know, but supposedly everyone was notified in writing. Everyone is saying it's safe, but we really don't know what the risk is. I don't want my kids or myself being guinea pigs for potential risks." Vaccaro said this whole situation has caused a lot of stress for herself, her employees and parents. When asked why Verizon selected this specific location in the Palladio for the cell tower, Flato said it was to address the growing community of Folsom and increased use of Verizon service in the area. "The community around the Palladio Mall has seen a large increase in the use of wireless devices requiring more capacity and some coverage components," Flato said. "This is critical to meet the growing demand for Verizon Wireless service for residents, businesses, visitors and emergency services in the area. The proposed cell site will address capacity needs by maintaining the level of service expected by the community." Flato mentioned that Verizon does comply fully with all zoning and permitting requirements. "Potential antenna locations must meet all local, state and federal regulations," she said. "Verizon holds Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses for the frequencies utilized, and we strictly follow their regulations." According to the American Cancer Society, there is very little evidence to support the idea that cell phone towers cause cancer, but at the same time, in today's times, humans are exposed to much more electromagnetic radiation than generations before. "Very few human studies have focused specifically on cellular phone towers and cancer risk," according to the American Cancer Society. MacLean started an online petition to get the tower moved to a new location, away from their children. As of press time, the petition had more than 370 signatures. Gloria Wright, Palladio's general manager, was unavailable for comment.