Plans by AT&T to site cell towers on Union Street are meeting stiff opposition from locals. In a statement, the Union Street Association laid out its objections. “For the last 40-plus years, the Union Street Association has worked hard to preserve the unique character of our neighborhood and the buildings we have entrusted to us. AT&T Wireless has disregarded our design guidelines and the need to preserved the historic nature of the buildings on Union Street. There are multiple other sites on other streets which would work as well, but they insist on placing these cell tower monstrosities on Union Street.”
Despite AT&T changing its initial plans, the association says the second option was no better. “First it was 1700 Union, a beautiful Edwardian building at the corner of Gough. When that was voted down by the Planning Commission, AT&T Wireless withdrew that request and then moved their request to 1800 Union, at the corner of Octavia, one block away and once again on a beautiful Edwardian multilevel structure,” the statement continued. “The proposal of the mammoth structure they would put on this building would detract from the architectural design and significance of the building and ultimately detract from the entire neighborhood. Given the size and shape of their proposed monstrosity, it is unreasonable to put it in the 1700 or 1800 block of Union Street.”
