BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Bakersfield City Council has delayed a final decision on a proposed 150-foot radio tower near a southwest Bakersfield neighborhood, asking staff for more information before moving forward.
The project would replace an existing communications tower — estimated at about 85 feet — at the city's Water Resources facility with a new 150-foot structure. Opponents say the taller tower would be built near homes and Ronald Reagan Elementary School.
Area resident Bo Koenig helped lead the appeal against the project. He says residents are not opposing the city's effort to modernize its emergency communications system, but are concerned about where the new tower would be located.
"Nobody wants to look up at a monstrosity. I would call this a mega tower," Koenig said.
Koenig says the current tower is largely hidden by trees, but argues a significantly taller structure would be much more visible from the surrounding neighborhood. He also provided City Council with a resident-created image showing what opponents fear the tower could look like from the area. The image is not an official rendering of the project, but rather a visual created by residents to illustrate their concerns.
"RF waves that are coming off these towers have never been tested on children. We have to take precautions and not have these things sit within a couple hundred feet of the school," Koenig said.
Another neighbor, Mark Merrifield, says the school's proximity to the proposed tower site is what concerns him most.
"Just a few doors down, we have Ronald Reagan Elementary School, but its play yard is within this radius right now. We're actually worried about the children that are going to be exposed to this day in and day out, all year long," Merrifield said.
Koenig argues the city should take more time to consider other city-owned sites, including possible locations at the Park at River Walk.
Supporters of the project say the city's aging radio system is already causing problems for first responders. Bakersfield Police Chief Brent Stratton says officers have dealt with communication gaps for years as the city has grown and the existing system has aged.
"So we've been looking for work throughs and solutions and patches and ways to just be able to continue to serve the people of Bakersfield," Stratton said.
Stratton says reliable communications are essential during critical incidents, when police, fire, and other agencies need to share information in real time.
"When we don't have the ability to communicate those things, it has the ability to impact the lives of the people we serve as well as those that are responding," Stratton said.
While Stratton supports upgrading the system, he says the specific location of the tower is not his primary concern.
"So whether it's there, whether it's at River Walk Park, whether it's some place else, we just need the radios to be able to work. That's our main concern," Stratton said.
City staff has previously maintained that the Water Resources site is the most practical location for the project and says independent testing found emissions would be well below federal limits.
The item is expected to return to the City Council in August for further discussion.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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