New signs have popped up along Old Mamalahoa Highway in Papaikou in recent months.

Read more Mahomes’ health, Mayfield’s contract among top NFL storylines

New signs have popped up along Old Mamalahoa Highway in Papaikou in recent months.

The make-shift posters are the work of Patrick Ferreira in opposition to a new cell tower he and other residents recently learned is going to be built in the town — right in the middle of a cluster of residences, and just steps from Ferreira’s home and auto repair shop, Pat &Co.

“It’s between the post office and my business and another household. It’s about five houses altogether,” Ferreira said.

The lot where the tower is to be built is owned by the Olson Trust and sits just adjacent to the organization’s headquarters in Papaikou.

Earlier this year, Ferreira noticed workers at the site. When he asked what they were doing they told him they would be building a cell tower there. It was the first he and other residents had heard of the project. Black construction fences have since gone up around the lot.

Despite the lack of awareness in the community, Olson Trust trustee Paul Alston said plans for the tower have been in the works for nearly a decade. He told the Tribune-Herald that the Trust signed a contract with Verizon Wireless in 2018, permitting the company to install and operate the tower.

The Hawaii County Planning Department approved the plans for the tower — which will rise about 60 feet tall and be disguised as a palm tree — in December 2024, and in June of this year approved the building permit for construction to begin.

Ferreira said the community was never notified about the project by the Olson Trust, Verizon or the county. He and other residents were also confused why the project was being allowed in such close proximity to homes and businesses.

In 2025, the County Council passed a bill that set a requirement for cellular towers to be set back at least 600 feet from any residence or school.

Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow said that because the plan for the project was approved prior to the changes going into effect, it is exempt from the new set-back requirement. He also said that because a telecommunication tower is a permitted use for the Olson Trust’s land, which is zoned commercial, there was no requirement for the county to notify nearby residents or hold a public hearing.

“The project received Plan Approval from the Planning Department before the Zoning Code was amended regarding telecommunication towers,” he said in a statement. “The project complied with the requirements of the Zoning Code at the time they received Plan Approval. The changes in the Zoning Code do not apply to projects that received prior approvals, but to projects that come in after these changes were passed.”

Alston of the Olson Trust said there was similarly no requirement for the Trust to inform the community about the project. He also said, at this point, the Trust cannot prevent the project from moving forward without breaking the contract with Verizon, which he said he is not willing to do.

“The fact is we’ve got a contractual obligation, and we’re not in a position to disregard that obligation. I can’t expose the Trust to the liability that that might involve … ,” he said. “The die was cast a long time ago, and you know, we’re doing what we got to do, and it’s unfair for people to complain eight years after we signed a contract that we shouldn’t have signed the contract, in my view.”

He said the Trust had recently received a letter signed by a dozen community members, which detailed concerns about the impact the tower could have on property values, the character of the community and health.

“Our neighborhood is a long-established residential community where families have invested substantial financial resources and personal commitment in their homes,” it read. “The proposed placement of a commercial telecommunications facility in the middle of this area would have significant and lasting impacts on neighboring properties and the character of our community.”

Alston said that while he did not share the community’s concerns about the project, it is out of his hands.

“We’ve given control over the site to Verizon, and they’re doing what they’re doing,” he said. “I know that we’ve urged Verizon to reach out and respond directly to the people in the community, and I assume that they’re doing that, but that’s between them and the community.”

Read more Worrisome trend of shorter Hawaii vacations reaches into June

In a statement to the Tribune-Herald, a Verizon spokesperson said the project complies with all local, state and federal laws, permitting requirements and safety guidelines — adding that the company feels the tower will benefit the area.

“This added infrastructure will deliver essential service improvements by enhancing access to public safety services and overall community connectivity,” it said. “We are always looking for ways to improve our network to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

Margaret Johnson, who lives down the street from the project site, has been circulating several petitions opposing the tower, which she said have received nearly 200 signatures. She said she is not against having a cell tower in the area, but feels strongly that it should be somewhere else.

“It’s not that we’re opposing the cell tower. It’s just the location because it’s just too close a proximity to residential houses,” she said. “My question has always been, for Olson Trust — which I understand, they have several land holdings around Papaikou — why not another one?”

She said she and other community members have been working with Hamakua Councilwoman Heather Kimball to urge Verizon to consider alternative locations for the project.

Kimball said she met with a Verizon representative last week to discuss options and one specific site proposed by the community.

“When the community came to me and had questions about it, they also offered a solution, which was another location for the tower. And, so you know, it wasn’t just grumbling,” she said.

However, she said Verizon told her the other site was not feasible for technical reasons, and reiterated that the company has the legal authority to move forward with the project in its current form.

“They know that they have the entitlement,” Kimball said. “But my hope is that they, because a lot of the concern around it is just the public communication, if they continue to move forward, that there is a time that they can come out and talk to the community about the community’s concerns.”

In the meantime, Ferreira said the project is causing him anxiety over what it could mean for his property, where his family has lived for three generations.

“It’s hard to sleep at night and do work now for me,” he said. “My grandchildren are going to inherit all this, and I don’t want that stuff.”

Sammie Stanbro Olson, whose husband founded and ran the Olson Trust until he passed away in 2024, said she understands the community’s concerns and thinks they should have been made aware of the project sooner.

As a nonvoting member of the Trust’s advisory board, she said she had also only recently found out that construction would be starting on the tower.

She said she and her husband were friends with Ferreira and others in Papaikou.

“I totally sympathize with the people in the community that are unhappy. I mean, I wouldn’t want it in my backyard, and something that I was looking at all the time … ,” she said. “We do have some good friends in that community, and I totally, you know, am sorry that it’s going to be there.”

Ferreira said that he and other community members are exploring the possibility of taking legal action to stop the project.

“The attorney for Olson Trust said that it would cost money to cancel the contract,” Ferreira said. “Well, either pay now or pay later when the community, especially these houses in this area, turn around and sue.”

Read more Robbie Ray’s quality start propels Giants past Padres

Email Grace Inez Adams at [email protected].