Patrick Ferreira, who lives next to the intended site of a new Verizon Wireless cell tower in Papa‘ikou, has filed an appeal challenging the project and requesting construction be halted.

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The tower, which is planned to stand 60 feet high on a lot in the middle of a cluster of homes and businesses, received plan approval in 2024, just months before a new rule went into effect in Hawaii County requiring such towers to be located at least 600 feet from schools and residences.

Ferreira and other local residents have been pushing back on the location of the project since finding out about it earlier this year. Verizon has responded that the company has all of the necessary approvals and permits to proceed with the project and intends to do so. Construction began at the site over the summer.

Cory Harden, a member of the Sierra Club Hawaii Island Group, has been supporting Ferreira in navigating the appeal process. Last month, she requested documents relating to the project from the Hawaii County Planning Department and said she found what appears to be an error in the use permit that was issued for the tower.

“I was looking through, and I thought, oh, how come the use permit is 2022? That’s kind of odd,” she said. “So, I looked up the use permit and went, oh my goodness, it’s for a different cellphone tower, not this one.”

The apparent error is the basis for some of the arguments laid out in the appeal.

“Despite the flawed Use Permit, earth-moving equipment has worked on the site (shaking my house to the point where I asked the Building Department for a stop work order) and a layer of gravel about 20 feet square has been put down,” Ferreira wrote in his appeal.

He has requested that work on the tower be stopped at least until the issue is clarified and additional documents that Harden has requested are provided.

Sierra Club Hawaii Island Group Chair Janine Kara Dumaguin also submitted a letter in support of the appeal.

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“The public is being denied its right to effectively appeal the decision because the records of the decision are unavailable to the public,” she wrote. “Laws covering telecommunications towers have changed in recent years, but without records showing the date of application and the materials considered in approving the project, there is no way for residents to review whether the Papa‘ikou tower complies with the law.”

In response to the appeal, Verizon filed a motion to dismiss it, stating that it is “untimely and lacks jurisdiction,” falling outside of the 30-day window during which planning decisions can be appealed to the Hawaii County Board of Appeals.

Ferreira responded that it would not have been possible to file an appeal within that timeframe because he was not aware of the project until more recently.

“It was impossible for me to comply with the appeal deadline, because neighbors were not notified that a decision was being considered, nor when it was finalized,” he wrote.

Ferreira’s initial appeal, which was submitted on Aug. 18, was deemed deficient by the Planning Department and in need of additional documentation, which Harden said she had since helped him to obtain and provide. He resubmitted an amended version of the petition on Sept. 22.

Harden said she hopes the Planning Department and the Hawaii County Board of Appeals will carefully review the appeal and potential use permit issue and, ultimately, that the tower will be built in a different location.

“I hope that Verizon will move their tower elsewhere,” she said. “Pat (Ferreira) is not saying ‘don’t do it,’ he’s just saying there are other locations actually in Papa‘ikou,” she said.

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Email Grace Inez Adams at [email protected].