INDIANAPOLIS — New state legislation about new 5G cell phone towers has been put on hold for now.
The president of a homeowners' association talked to 13News about making his voice heard loud and clear about House Bill 1164.
Eric White testified at the Indiana Statehouse hoping to gain support controlling tower placement by big cell phone companies. White has spent the last year fighting for better rules about cell towers after they started popping up in his neighborhood.
"I do feel like David fighting Goliath," he said.
Wednesday morning, he testified at a Statehouse hearing about the bill. He addressed lawmakers about the HB1164 to let them know the bill favors carriers more than the people that voted for them.
"I asked them to consider amending the bill so that it is a little bit more intelligent about what it allows carriers to do when they are operating in residential areas," said White.
The top concerns about the bill include no restrictions on height for new towers, that carriers can place towers anywhere they want with no distance restrictions, and that HB1164 eliminates local government oversight for tower rules and regulations. White serves as president of the North Willow Farms Homeowners Association.
He has even started promoting the anti-tower campaign and has heard from families all over the state and decided to reach out to people using video messages.
"Please get in touch with your state representative and your state senator," he said in a YouTube video, where he's asking his neighbors and other HOAs to also speak up.
So far, more than 1,800 people have signed his online petition. The petition has a live counter on the site to let petitioners see the numbers add up. Eric set a signature goal of 2,500 and is likely to surpass that number.
White isn't the only one fighting. Contractors for Verizon filed two lawsuits against the City of Indianapolis for denying new towers, so the fight is far from over.
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"I am going to continue fighting this as hard as I can for as long as the bill is under consideration," said White.
White believes during his testimony at the Statehouse, he got the attention of lawmakers. House Bill 1164 is on hold for now and will be going back on the committee floor next week. He told 13News that even if the bill passes in its current draft, he and others will continue to fight for better residential area cell tower regulations.