|
![TMCNet: County planners reject cellular tower plans [The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif.]](http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/invisible.gif)
County planners reject cellular tower plans [The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif.]
(Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 20--The Mendocino County Planning Commission voted 4-3 Thursday to deny a cell tower east of Ukiah until further findings by the Planning Department are presented next month.
Communications company US Cellular had asked to build a 60-foot-tall water tank that would house four panel antennas, a GPS antenna, a 35-kilowatt generator, a 500-gallon liquid propane tank and a 180-square-foot equipment shelter on the east side of Ruddick Cunningham Road at Gielow Lane.
"We have received numerous letters in opposition to the project," Dusty Duley said. Duley said the Planning Department had received a petition with 80 to 90 signatures from people in Talmage, at the City of 10,000 Buddhas, Willits and Ukiah, Duley said.
Most of the opposition cited concerns about a visual blight that the antenna would be creating in what some opposed said was a "pristine" slice of Mendocino wine country.
US Cellular agent Allen Potter of Oregon-based Eagle Consulting Group said he has been trying to find a site for the tower for more than three years.
Potter said he had been given direction to get away from homes and schools when placing the tower and he said the location needed a road and electrical service.
"We had to look for a spot where we would not destroy vines or trees," Potter said. US Cellular radio frequency engineer Ed Johnson said that cell technology has been changing.
"In metropolitan areas we will see a lot higher cell site density," Johnson said. He said that street
level cell towers have caused problems for cell phone users at the tops of high rises, for example.
Cell towers in the Ukiah area are aimed to reduce the call load on a Cow Mountain tower that Johnson said took 80,000 calls on Tuesday.
Traffic on the cell tower includes text messaging; US Cellular to US Cellular service calls are counted twice; US Cellular to non-US Cellular or a land line is counted once, he said.
Why not put a cell tower up in the hills somewhere?' was one question Johnson answered.
"It would be difficult to control the footprint as you get higher up on the valley," said Johnson. Other cell companies, like T-Mobile, also are on the move.
"T-Mobile is coming in too," Johnson said, adding "we have to strive to keep our customers happy."
But Linda and Mark Mountanos and others were not happy with a faux water tank. The Mountanos said they learned about plans for the cell tower when the Planning Department flew a red balloon to gauge height.
"The first we knew of it was when the red balloon went up," said Linda Mountanos, who submitted research she compiled. "I spent the last two-and-a-half months on a journey I did not ask for," she said.
Mark Mountanos said he, Linda and their daughter have been affected emotionally by the prospect of having the tower near their property. "We have not been able to sleep since the red balloon went up," he said.
The Mountanos' came armed with color presentation boards with renderings of the tower. Others also came with presentation boards; one man said he thought the plan was acceptable.
Potter offered to make the tower lower and suggested a simple pole as an alternative.
Zack Cinek can be reached at udjzc@pacific.net or 468-3521.
To see more of The Ukiah Daily Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back Small Business VoIP Global Community's Homepage ]
|
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Activate Email 
TMCnet LOGIN
