A two-year long dispute between Dewey Beach and Verizon about the placement of utility poles for 5G wireless service on the town’s dunes is inching closer to resolution.
The conflict began in 2020 when the Delaware Department of Transportation granted Verizon permits to set up a dozen utility poles around Dewey Beach; most of the town’s roads belong to the Department of Transportation, not the town itself.
The appearance of 5G poles at or near the town’s beach – which residents view as a blow to the resort's aesthetics – sparked a substantial backlash for a town with fewer than 500 permanent residents, including a lawsuit against Verizon in 2021 and multiple protests.
Now, after the Town Council voted to create a list of potential locations to which to move the polls – including locations along Route 1 – Assistant Town Manager Jim Dedes says the town seems to have reached a turning point with Verizon.
“That’s where we’ve been - and we’ve been doing this now for a couple years, trying to get this resolved," he said. "We’re close now to the point of moving them to preferred locations.”
Some of the relocation sites put forward by the town may not be viable; Verizon claims, for instance, that Federal Communications Commission rules prohibit the town from forcing them to move poles from public to private property.
Because Dewey Beach doesn’t have in-house expertise on wireless utilities, it has contracted out the negotiations with Verizon to a consulting firm.
