We are a group of neighbors who have come together to raise awareness and push for change to policies that currently allow unlimited, duplicative trenching in our front yards by competing telecom companies.

Most residents have little idea of the scale of what’s happening. They assume it’s a standard utility upgrade, not realizing that fiber optic installation can mean repeated, invasive excavations by multiple companies — with no county regulation to limit the burden. Many don’t know the difference between the public Right of Way (the strip between sidewalk and street) and the private utility easement in their own yards. In practice, these trenches — often 6 ft long, 4 ft deep, and 1 ft wide — are being dug directly in front yards, dangerously close to homes, trees, root systems, and driveways.

This lack of awareness allows both the companies and the County to proceed with minimal accountability.

One elderly neighbor, watching the digging from her window, thought it was an overdue upgrade to the electric lines. When told it was fiber installation, she replied: “But they already installed it last month.” Common sense tells us you cannot dig multiple invasive trenches in the same yards indefinitely just so private companies can compete for market share.

While broadband may be considered essential, unlimited trenching by competing private companies was never the intent of utility easements. On private easements in particular, this represents an excessive and unreasonable burden on property owners.

Residents have a right to be informed when disruptions of this scale are planned — yet notice has been minimal. AT&T and MetroNet, the two companies that trenched in just the past month, sent only a small flyer, indistinguishable from junk mail. Most households never saw it. The notice gave no real information about excavation scale, timing, or impacts — and nothing to indicate that multiple companies could dig separately, without limit.

This lack of transparency helps explain why few complaints have been filed: most residents are simply unaware of the scale, frequency, and cumulative disruption — or of the County’s lack of protections for homeowners.

Our aim is to change this situation. We support responsible fiber expansion, but we demand regulation that restores homeowners’ rights, ensures transparency, and prevents unreasonable and unsustainable disruption to our neighborhoods.