Saratoga News
News
Can you hear them now? Planning says yes to three new cell antennas
By Shannon Burkey
Cell phone carrier Metro PCS is beginning to build its network to provide better coverage in the Saratoga area.
The Saratoga Planning Commission voted 4-2 to allow the company to install three antennas and an equipment cabinet on the roof of an office building at 14407 Big Basin Way in the Village. Commissioner Robert Kundtz was absent.
"This is a crucial site for Metro PCS," said spokesman Tom Spalding. "There are areas here where we have absolutely no coverage and there are also areas with very poor coverage."
But commissioners Susie Nagpal and Manny Cappello, the two dissenting votes, both said they would like to see other locations and different designs considered.
"While we can't restrict these antenna sites going into our city, we certainly have a say in how they get installed in our city," Cappello said. "I don't like to see our Village cluttered with more and more of these things."
Under federal law, city officials may not restrict the expansion of cell phone sites in their cities. However, they are allowed to consider the aesthetics of the sites and request changes in that respect.
When Metro PCS applied for a conditional-use permit to install its new cell site, it proposed a design similar to a faux chimney that would house the antennas.
After seeking input from the neighbors in the area, the company instead opted for installing three separate antennas on the back of the roof of the building, which is set back from the street. The proposed antennas would be painted a dark forest green to blend in with the trees in the background.
"We did come up with a couple of different options in screening for our antennas for this site, but in working with staff and the members of the community, it was expressed to us that painting the antennas a dark green was what the community preferred to see," Spalding said.
Saratoga resident Don Whetstone, who owns a building next to the proposed site, said he has no problem with antennas going up on the building but would like to see them kept small and blend in instead of having something like a fake chimney.
"I know there are folks who think by having a pig and putting lipstick on it and strapping on a big, fake ostrich tail makes it look less noticeable, but I don't think so," Whetstone said.
The commissioners, however, preferred the original chimney design because they felt it would do a better job of hiding the site.
Spalding also addressed the issue of location, which had several of the commissioners concerned.
Because the particular site Metro PCS is proposing to install is low-powered, it needs to be placed in the area that it is trying to cover, according to Spalding. Cell phone sites also need height, such as a two-story building, and there must be a 25-foot horizontal space from other sites.
Currently there are several sites on top of buildings in the Village.
"We feel this is the location that is best for the Village. The building is set back from the street behind two other buildings. Other buildings have sites that are much more visible than what we are proposing--they're right on Big Basin Way, they're right on top and they have multiple sites," Spalding said. "So I feel we have designed a better site, a more superior site and a more screened site."
Spalding also added that Metro PCS is asking 75 percent less than what most other carriers ask for. Carriers such as Verizon and Nextel typically propose 12 antennas versus the three that Metro PCS is proposing, he said.
"I get the sense that Metro PCS has done all their due diligence and has visited different sites and this is the one site they have come up with," Commissioner Rishi Kumar said.
Commissioner Linda Rodgers agreed, adding that since cell service is a thing people seem to want, the commission should give extra latitude on the design of cell sites.
"We probably need to rely on the carrier when they say they've looked at locations and this is the best one," Rodgers said. "I feel a little uncomfortable asking them to go back when everywhere I look downtown, I see those antennas on top of buildings."
