5G towers appearing around Houston area has residents asking questions

SPRING, Texas (KTRK) -- Imagine a 40-foot-tall pole popping up outside your home!

It's happening in the Memorial Chase neighborhood in Spring. Neighbors say they don't know what they are, but they want them gone.

"You wake up one morning, and you have a truck driver that wants to deliver a 40-foot pole in your front yard, and it's like, 'that's interesting,'" Don Cochran said with a raised eyebrow.

He's talking about a cell tower explicitly built to provide 5G capability.

RELATED: Houston homeowners upset over not being notified of 5G box placement

5G is the next generation of high-speed wireless technology. It uses smaller waves, so it can't get through walls as quickly as 4G technology.

That means it needs more towers closer together, so some residents can expect to see a lot more cell towers just like it.

Since 2017, state law has allowed wireless companies to use any public right-of-ways, even in front of your home.

In most cases, local officials have zero power to keep them from popping up and don't even have to notify anyone that they're coming.

And cell towers are usually installed by subcontractors, so it would be hard to tell what's happening.

The tower Cochran is complaining about in Spring is a Verizon tower, but other companies are also putting them up.

"Most people looking at houses would walk away," said Chad Dicken, a neighbor," said. "I know I would."

"What are they going to hang on this pole? That's the question. Are there big dishes and all sorts of wacky, weird stuff? I don't know," Cochran added. "I'd like it to leave. They can back the truck up."

According to the American Cancer Society, there's no strong evidence that cell towers can cause any noticeable health effects.

However, they're still new, and there's still research being done on them.

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