DOWN UNDER: Scuba diving surprisingly popular in land-locked Colorado P10
FREE
November 9, 2017
DENVER Since 1926
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
Small cell towers popping up across 16th Street Mall smoking city as data demand explodes
ban approved
Some property owners object to plethora of Estructures
Effort to create ‘sunset’ provision fails as council approves permanent ban
BY ANDREW KENNEY AKENNEY@DENVERITE.COM
Theodore Oyler has gone to extremes to keep his five Denver properties in historic condition, from hardwood floors to clawfoot tubs. This month, however, he discovered that neither he nor his lawyer could stop the rapid spread of a new technology through Denver’s oldest neighborhoods. On Oct. 12, Oyler noticed a crew drilling horizontally near the sidewalk outside his Dalton Apartments building in Cheesman Park. “It was just a fluke that we even saw it,” he explained. When he talked to a worker, he learned that they were building a miniature cell tower — 30 feet tall and skinny enough to fit between the sidewalk and the street. They were installing one of hundreds of “cell poles” or “small cell” sites expected to be installed in central Denver this year by up to ten different companies. “This is going to affect every neighborhood,” Denver City Councilman Wayne New told Denverite. “This is
BY ANDREW KENNEY AKENNEY@DENVERITE.COM
A cell pole near the intersection of 14th Avenue and Corona Street. KEVIN J. BEATY not just Cheesman Park or Capitol Hill. This is going to be all across the city.” Earlier this year, a new state law said that companies generally should be allowed to plant these new cell poles in the public right of way. Verizon alone has installed more than 150 this year, according to city records, “and they have the right to do
it without any objections,” New said. The new sites are much smaller than a full tower — about the size of a streetlight — and they cover just a couple blocks each. They’re expected to unclog data connections and could be a key element in the next-generation 5G data networks. SEE TOWERS, P4
Starting on Dec. 1, police officers will ask people on the 16th Street Mall to extinguish their nicotine delivery devices, from cigarettes to vaporizers. The Denver City Council on Oct. 30 unanimously approved the Breathe Easy Ordinance, which will allow cops to issue tickets up to $100 to anyone smoking or using an e-cigarette on the pedestrian mall or within 50 feet of its edges. The proposal was introduced by Council President Albus Brooks, who said his main concern was the health and welfare of the people of Denver. Some people expressed concerns that police would use the new ordinance to target people experiencing homelessness, essentially pushing SEE SMOKING, P4
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
‘Don’t be fooled by those who say the ACA is imploding — they’re doing that to undermine the system and drive people away.’ — Diana DeGette | congresswoman, Page 6 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 6 | LIFE: PAGES 10-11 | CALENDAR: PAGE 7 VOLUME 91 | ISSUE 1