The Rochester City Planning Commission denied on May 18 a request to build a Verizon cell tower at 936-952 Portland Ave.
The company first applied to install an approximately 60-foot personal wireless telecommunications tower last year, but the proposal was denied in August 2025.
Verizon revisited this plan earlier this year, going before the city planning commission in March. The proposal was met with concerns from several community members and officials.
The Rochester City Council, in a letter dated March 27, urged the city planning commission to reject the proposal. They wrote how it was unacceptable for the applicant to propose the same project without addressing the reasons it was rejected previously.
During its meeting in March, the commission reviewed the proposal, but it came to no decision.
Laura Smith of Nixon Peabody, the law firm representing Verizon, said construction of the cell tower would provide better coverage in the area, surpassing existing towers in that regard.
Rochester resident Carolyn Jones described the impact a cell tower could have in the area. Her main concern is the drop in property value the cell tower could cause within their community.
“We are already a low-income area, and statistics show that when there is a cell tower close to property, the value drops from 20 to 30% within those areas,” Jones said.
— Kerria Weaver works as the Government and You reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, with a focus on how government actions affect communities and neighborhoods in Rochester and in Monroe County.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester commission denies Verizon tower on Portland Ave
Reporting by Kerria Weaver, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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