Patterson Irrigator | Your Local Paper - Phone company proposes cellular tower for east side of town

October 12, 2008 Patterson, CA

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Phone company proposes cellular tower for east side of town

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Written by Staff Report
Wednesday, 09 July 2008
Verizon Wireless wants to guarantee downtown Patterson better cell phone service, but it will take an 82-foot pole near Las Palmas Avenue and Highway 33 to make it happen. The Patterson Planning Commission will review the proposal at its 7 p.m. Thursday meeting at City Hall, 1 Plaza. The plan for the antenna contradicts several city ordinances stating that antennas should be at least 1 mile apart and 1,000 feet from homes. The proposed location next to Las Palmas Storage meets neither requirement. Patterson drafted its cell tower regulations seven years ago, according to a report to the commission from city planner Pat Bodin. Back then, talk of a cell tower “conjured images of a 150-foot high lattice tower,” Bodin said, adding that planners are in the process of reworking the ordinance to better fit today’s less-intrusive towers. In the meantime, Verizon hopes to get a variance from the commission so it can build the tower to address spotty downtown cell service. In a letter to a city planner, Alan Heine, a consultant contracted with Verizon, said Patterson’s downtown presents unique challenges for cell service and requires a tower nearby. In the report to the commission, Bodin explained that the tower would be visible to the nearby Las Palmas Mobile Estates. However, a row of 50-foot-tall trees would block some of the tower. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 155 Comments (2) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by John Chamorro , July 09, 2008 With the proposed tower in Patterson, another tower up here in the back-country will or could close the missing link for Del Puerto Canyon residents. We have repeatedly brought this issue to the Santa Clara Rural Roads meetings without any apparent progress on the issue. Possibly it might be time for a little more input from the residents to Supervisor Gages office. Even though it's not a County issue, the supervisors office carries a lot more weight than private individuals. On a side note, Alameda County has promised to streamline any permit issues should Verizon propose a tower for the Southern Mines Roads area. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by J. Newmar , July 09, 2008 Why not have them disguise the tower as....something other than a giant ugly pole? Can't they colocate on a palm tree? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Write comment Name Email Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.