Cell tower at Lake Willoughby survives legal challenge

A years-long fight over a proposed cell tower near Vermont's Lake Willoughby just hit another legal wall. The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed on Sept. 4 that the state's Public Utility Commission properly approved a 140-foot telecommunications tower near the lake, a national natural landmark. A group of seven Westmore residents, led by Donna Dzugas-Smith, has now filed a motion asking the court to reconsider, arguing the commission failed to properly weigh input from the town's planning commission, select board, town plan, and neighbors who will have to look at — and live near — the structure.

For families who've chosen a home specifically for its quiet, rural setting, this case hits close to home. Massachusetts-based Industrial Tower and Wireless filed its application back in June 2024, and the commission approved it in September 2025, concluding the project is consistent with the state's telecommunications goals. But Dzugas-Smith contends the review process itself is broken. "This is about all of Vermont," she said, suggesting Westmore isn't likely to be the last town to find itself in this position as carriers continue expanding coverage into rural areas.

Why This Matters Beyond Vermont

Whether or not you live near Lake Willoughby, this case is a useful reminder: cell towers are popping up in more rural and scenic areas as companies chase coverage gaps, and local communities often feel they have limited power to push back once a state utility commission gets involved. For health-conscious parents and homebuyers, proximity to cell infrastructure is a real factor in house-hunting decisions — even though it's worth noting that well-established science shows radiofrequency exposure drops off quickly with distance, so a tower visible on the horizon is a very different exposure scenario than one mounted on your roofline.

Still, "different" doesn't mean "zero," and many families prefer to be proactive about reducing overall EMF exposure at home regardless of what's happening outside. That might mean thinking carefully about the everyday electronics already inside your walls — swapping in a low-EMF hair dryer for daily routines, choosing a low-EMF air purifier for the nursery or bedroom, or exploring whether EMF shielding paint makes sense for a home office or child's room facing a known signal source.

For now, the Westmore tower fight isn't over — the residents' motion for reargument is pending, and the outcome could shape how much influence local communities have in future tower siting decisions across Vermont. If you're house-hunting in an area with planned telecom infrastructure, it's worth checking local planning commission records early, since these approvals can take years to finalize but are hard to reverse once built.

Originally reported by Valley News