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T-Mobile has withdrawn its application with the city to place cell phone antennas on a Nuuanu church, saying it wants to weigh community sentiment as it looks for ways to improve service.
"We always want to be good neighbors but at the same time service our customers," T-Mobile General Manager Roy Irei said Thursday. "We want to hear both sides and come up with a solution."
Some Nuuanu residents had opposed the plan to place antennas at International Baptist Church at 20 Dowsett Ave., along Pali Highway, saying they worried about possible health effects of exposure to cellphone radiation.
"I was stunned in disbelief and very grateful and relieved" at the company’s withdrawal, said Nuuanu resident Betsy McCreary, who said neighbors collected 100 signatures on a petition opposing the cellphone antennas.
T-Mobile withdrew its application Monday. A Star-Advertiser story on the issue appeared that morning, but Irei said the company’s decision was not based on any "bad" publicity.
"We are taking into consideration the feedback of the community," he said. "We’re trying to come up with a solution — a balance with what our customers’ needs are and what the community is seeking."
The city Department of Planning and Permitting director sent a letter to T-Mobile, saying the withdrawal for a conditional use permit and zoning waiver does not preclude it from filing a new application in the future.
McCreary said she will share research she did on the harm posed by radio-frequency radiation waves at Tuesday’s Nuuanu/ Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting.
