 |
|
|
|
|
Council grants an appeal on the cellular equipment policy
By Oakley Brooks
A new planning commission policy requiring cell phone companies to place equipment sheds underground in Saratoga suffered a setback recently when the city council agreed to a cell company's demands to leave the equipment above ground.
The appeal came from Alameda-based MetroPCS, which was unhappy with the Saratoga Planning Commission's decision in October to allow two installations of antennas on local PG&E towers, provided the cellular company place accompanying equipment underground.
One site was to be constructed where the power corridor meets Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, while the other was slated for Quito Road.
The planning commission began requiring the placement of equipment below grade several months ago, after cellular giant SprintPCS offered to underground its equipment at another installation in Saratoga. The below-grade construction reduces the aesthetic impact of the 5- to 6-foot-high cabinets holding radio and power units. The ground units support a collection of antennas, placed up to 130 feet up on power line towers or poles.
Currently, there are 12 cellular installations in the city, with nine more scheduled. Five of the proposed installations would join sites already occupied by cellular companies, and local officials want to reduce the potential visual effect of small "villages" of equipment enclosures, according to Associate Planner John Livingstone.
But in earlier discussions with the city, MetroPCS representatives claimed that placing support equipment in an underground vault would add $60,000 to $70,000 to the cost of the installation.
On Dec. 5, MetroPCS officials added that PG&E would not allow them to place an underground vault at the Quito Road site and utility lines precluded a vault at the Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road site.
City staff members responded that they did not believe MetroPCS had adequately explored underground equipment at the Quito Road site.
However, a majority of city council members agreed to let the cell phone provider place the equipment in an above-ground enclosure on both sites, on the condition that MetroPCS adhere to a strict landscaping plan.
The company will be subject to reviews annually to make sure plants and shrubs are maintained with the eventual goal of screening the equipment sheds at both sites completely.
Landscape maintenance is something that fellow cellular provider SprintPCS has not been diligent about, according to Vice Mayor Nick Streit, a practice he wants to change among providers citywide.
"We need to establish a strict enough policy so that if these [plants] die, we turn these companies off," Streit said.
Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith remained unconvinced that landscaping would take away the eyesore of cellular support equipment and said the council's decision, which she dissented from, set a bad precedent for handling cellular providers in the future.
"I think we should go with our gut and put these things underground," Waltonsmith said. "There's always going to be some excuse they're going to give us for not putting it underground."
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1955
