AT&T and the local high school in Aptos, CA are working with the County of Santa Cruz to build a cell tower. If approved, the tower would stand 75-feet tall and be camouflaged as a pine tree. According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the public is solidly behind plans to bolster wireless communication in the region.
“It had been an ongoing conversation, but when this [death of a high school student] occurred it raised awareness for the need of coverage in the area,” said AT&T Public Affairs Director Ryan Minniear. “Sadly, it took an incident like that to say, ‘We really do need to increase capacity and coverage in that area.’”
“It’s taken too long and it’s unfortunate that it takes these kinds of incidents to actually bring, without pure economic interest, the need to equalize the playing field,” said Supervisor Zach Friend. “We set aside some of our local recovery act funding for broadband expansion and it’s going to be a model as additional funding comes in. We are challenging providers to use the funding we get for expansion and (reach out) into rural areas.”
The proposed location is on the property of the centrally located Christ Lutheran Church. The application is currently in the environmental review phase of the Planning Department process. It must pass the review before moving on to the County Zoning Administrator. The County Planning Commission would then step in if there is any challenge from the public, the Sentinel reported.
“Someone would have to make very specific findings that there was an error, abuse of discretion to appeal the application,” said Friend. “But personally, there is an unquestionable need for that campus to have reliable cell service. People aren’t using landlines. Every student has a cell phone. During an emergency situation, they should be able to contact emergency responders and even their families; right now, there is no capability to do that.”
“If we feel that cell service is something that’s important to the community at large, that a cell phone tower would benefit people, we need to make that decision,” said Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez. If plans proceed as projected, Aptos could have the new cell tower by the end of 2022.
Reader Interactions