Tower Live After Years of Legal Battles

It’s always satisfying when a project that has taken years is finally complete. That’s what Verizon Wireless experienced in Penn Valley, Nevada, after their 48-foot tower was finally activated. “This new cell site improves coverage and capacity in the Penn Valley area, including the communities of Lake Wildwood, Penn Valley and portions of Highway 20,” Heidi Flato, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless told The Union. “Coverage spans north to Bitney Springs Road, south to Black Forest Road, and west to Highway 20 to the Nevada/Yuba county line.” The legal battles ensued when the adjacent property owners, Juliet Erickson and Peter Lockyer, filed three lawsuits with the local, state, and federal courts. “The [Nevada County] supervisors and the county planners have completely gutted the protection that the residents had against these eyesores,” Erickson said. “Based on the county’s position and the [state] Appeal Court ruling, a cell tower can go on top of any ridgeline in the county, no matter what.” (The Union) Lockyer and Erickson, along with their attorneys, have a court date set for December 19 with the Nevada County Superior Court Judge Sean Dowling in the still-pending local lawsuit over the couple’s application for a building permit for a two-story office and garage building on their land adjacent to the cell tower.