Residents raise process and safety concerns over proposed 149-foot tower at Wentworth Park

Residents urged the Mendota Heights City Council on May 19 to reconsider whether a proposed 149-foot wireless tower belongs in Wentworth Park and to be transparent about an independent analysis the City says it will obtain.

Deb Gagnon of Upper Colonial Drive said her kitchen window overlooks the park and that "the proposed 149-foot tower would go beyond the trees that exist in the park," adding that she hoped the City would at least request a three-dimensional rendering of how the tower would appear. Gayra Ostgaard, also from Upper Colonial Drive, said she previously raised concerns and pressed the Council on several procedural points: how a 149-foot proposal is being reconciled with an identified 49-foot height restriction, who will conduct the independent study the City cited, what the study will examine, and why the City rewrote its Zoning Code in January 2025 to allow freestanding towers in residential areas and parks up to 150 feet.

Ostgaard said the applicant has agreed to an extension through August but that residents have been notified only about seven days before hearings, which she said has eroded trust. "It was a private resident who discovered the 49-foot height restriction, not the City," she said, and asked the Council to make study details public when available.

No formal Council action on the tower was recorded at the meeting. City staff acknowledged an independent analysis is being conducted but the transcript does not identify who will perform it or what criteria it will include. The matter remains a planning and permitting issue for staff and the Council; residents said the outcome will set a precedent for other parks.

Next steps: The Council did not vote on the tower at this meeting; the planning process and the independent analysis are expected to precede future public hearings or Council consideration.