‘Small’ Cell Phone Tower Issue Grows in Palisades

By John Harlow | Editor-in-Chief

A California Senate bill permitting telecoms to build “small cell towers” on public medians to upgrade mobile phone service has prompted Palisadians to share this photograph of a “small cell tower” in Oakland, Calif., which suggests that telephone-box sized installations, complete with cables brackets and cooling fans, could be the next generation public annoyance.

Pacific Palisades Community Council members, including Chris Spitz and Sue Kohl, are campaigning for Senate Bill 649 to be modified t6o allow public comment on siting proposals—otherwise, they fear, such cell towers could blight many sensitive areas.

Few deny Palisadian Wi-Fi and phone services need an upgrade, but many question whether 28 cubic feet of industrial machinery in a box is the answer.

Bill critics also want a mandate that the next generation of so-called 5G mobile phone cell towers actually improve mobile coverage and broadband services in areas such as the Palisades, rather than just raise bills.

They also want some design input to make sure the boxes are not uglier than they need to be, something telecoms are resisting on cost grounds.

Under SB 649, wireless carriers can propose erecting equipment and antennas on street corners or up poles without public comment, except in areas that fall under the aegis of the California Coastal Commission, which, in planning terms, splits the Palisades in half.

Some carriers, such as Sprint’s partner Mobilitie, are also looking at replacing 25-foot poles with 120-foot poles—so high that some will require permanently flashing lights as aircraft warnings.

In other countries, such as Germany, small cell towers are more common but also half the size, and restricted as additions to existing public architectures such as the roof of a bus shelter.