Increase in Tower Height to Aid Police, Students and Pumpkin Festival Goers

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A permit issued this week by the Half Moon Bay Planning Commission will allow construction to begin on renovating a school-property sited tower, according to the Half Moon Bay Review. A 50-foot pole on the grounds of the California community’s high school can now make way for a 75-foot monopine cell tower. “We’ve heard from police and fire that when we have big events like the Pumpkin Festival, the network just doesn’t work very well as configured,” said Half Moon Bay Senior Planner, Doug Garrison. “This should help things quite a bit.”

In addition to the extra height, the new tower will have room for two additional occupants to join current provider AT&T. The 75-foot cell tower will also join the FirstNet emergency response network.

“I support the project even if it’s for a little bit of coverage that’s more in a wider area, primarily because of first responders,” stated Commissioner Hazel Joanes. “To me, any little bit counts for emergencies.”

The Half Moon Bay Planning Commission considered other options with shorter poles, notes the source, but granted the height exception to allow the improved coverage and co-location opportunities. J5 Infrastructure Partners, which is constructing the new tower for AT&T, explained the advantages of the extra height, reported the Half Moon Bay Review.

“To me, it seems to be a better tradeoff to allow for colocation of potentially future antennas from other carriers rather than opting for a shorter antenna with slightly impaired coverage and no ability in the future to colocate,” stated Commissioner Steve Ruddock.

“When we look at the benefits and downsides, there aren’t a lot of benefits to a shorter, new antenna,” agreed Garrison. 

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