We checked in with the outraged neighbors at their protest of the new wireless antenna installation at Fremont and 37th in Portland this evening. There were three dozen or so people, mostly kids, standing out in the rain, holding signs and selling home-baked goods to try to scratch together attorney's fees to mount a legal challenge. Lots of horn honks from passing drivers, presumably of support.

Probably the strongest argument that the opponents will have is that the Fremont location does not comply with the city's siting standards for such equipment. The city's new system is supposed to maximize placement of these antennas on poles along streets designated as "priority" on the city's official map for the purpose. The Fremont right-of-way is priority 4 -- the lowest priority -- with the priority 2 venue of 33rd Avenue just four blocks away.

As best we can tell, while the city's map sounds good in theory, for the cell companies the key is finding an adjacent private property owner who is willing to have the ground equipment for the antennas located on his or her lot. At 37th and Fremont, the willing owner was the Wilshire Market, which is suffering a boycott now for having gotten in bed with Clearwire. At 23rd and Stanton, the owner is Qwest, which has a huge modern switching station tucked inside a historic building there. They'll presumably house the Clearwire equipment and collect rent for the privilege. But without a nearby landowner to go along, all the priority maps won't do the cell people any good at all.

But they'll probably get their way. The city criteria for siting are vague indeed, with the cell phone devils' "coverage needs" given as a sort of sick touchstone. It will likely be an uphill battle for the opponents, no matter how many cookies were sold.

Meanwhile, a couple of commenters on previous posts wondered how tall the poles at the new locations would be. Just to get some idea, we cruised down to NE 26th south of Fremont to view this AT&T installation. Having been slapped up with no notice to nearby residents before the new rules took effect, it is a large part of what has the northeast neighbors upset. We had to tilt our camera to get the whole thing into the frame:

Is that 60 feet? We're told that the 37th and Fremont pole will be about 60 feet tall, and that at 23rd and Stanton, they're talking 90 feet, because the signal needs to clear some of the neighborhood's grand century-old trees. What is becoming of our neighborhoods under the Adams "administration"? With one insult after another, it's gotten pretty shameful. As Portland's businesses head for happier climes, people looking for livability may not be far behind.