Council approves Dish Wireless rooftop antenna array at Sheffield School leased by Innovate Newport

The Newport City Council approved a request from Innovate Newport to allow exterior alterations: installation of a Dish Wireless rooftop antenna array at Sheffield School, a property Innovate Newport leases from the city.

What was approved: Councilors voted to permit Innovate Newport, the lessee, to install three Dish Wireless antenna stacks on the Sheffield School roof with the array sited and engineered to meet structural and RF exposure limits presented at the hearing. Innovate Newport said the arrays will resemble chimney stacks and that they previously negotiated siting adjustments, including moving the Broadway‑facing stack back from the building edge.

Key details: Joe Nicholson, an Innovate Newport board volunteer, told the council Innovate Newport is not a signatory to the Dish lease but needs council permission because the installation is an exterior alteration to city‑owned property. Dish representatives said the proposed installation meets Federal Communications Commission limits for public exposure and that modeled levels are a small percentage of the applicable standard (one presenter cited about 2.3% of the FCC public limit). Dish estimated the service footprint for a site at the proposed height would be roughly a half mile for overlapping coverage in an urban environment, and said the arrays are engineered for structural safety. Innovate Newport said revenue from the lease will be reinvested in the building to address infrastructure issues (the organization cited water‑related repairs and window work as priorities) and noted the lease runs through 2032.

Public and council reaction: Councilors asked about siting, structural engineering, radiation exposure, coverage area and revenue use. Joe Nicholson and Dish engineer Brian Sullivan answered questions about moving a stack further off Broadway, the 6‑foot corner offsets and whether other stacks could be moved if structurally feasible. No members of the immediate neighborhood spoke in opposition during the hearing.

Next steps and constraints: The council’s permission addresses the exterior alteration requirement under Innovate Newport’s lease but does not create a lease amendment or signatory change. Any future alterations would require separate approvals. Council materials noted the arrays are subject to FCC limits and structural permitting.

Ending: Innovate Newport and Dish said they will continue to coordinate on final siting and structural plans; Innovate Newport said lease revenue will be used to fund maintenance and repairs at Sheffield School while the organization is the lessee.