Verizon Wireless has applied for permits to build
a cellular phone service antenna in Point Reyes Station, despite previous
questions from county planners as to the fitness of the proposed antenna’s
site.
The antenna would be built on a 4-acre parcel owned
by Carol Horick, northeast of downtown Point Reyes Station off of Highway
1. Verizon spokesperson Heidi Flato confirmed this week that the company
had "signed an agreement" with Horick.
Tom Lai, head planner for the county, said that the
location proposed by Verizon is not desirable under the county’s
current policy of choosing sites for telecommunications antennas.
"This application, just off the bat, raises a
number of potentially significant issues," Lai said. "A residential
area is the lowest preference for siting telecommunications facilities."
For its application to be approved, Lai added, Verizon
would have to demonstrate that there are no alternative sites suitable
for the antenna.
‘The best site’
Flato said that Verizon chose to build the antenna
on the Horick property because an antenna there would provide "the
best signal with the least amount of visibility to the surrounding area."
Because of a lack of antennas, Verizon, one of the
dominant cellular-phone service providers nationwide, can’t provide
coverage to many parts of West Marin. The proposed antenna would bring
service to an area spanning, from the Horick property, about 3 miles
north on Highway 1, some three-quarters of a mile south, and west to
the town of Inverness.
In April, Verizon presented preliminary plans for
the antenna to the Point Reyes Village Association. The association’s
design committee is this week reviewing the final plans for the antenna,
and will offer their opinion of the project in a letter to county planners
by Nov. 3, committee chairwoman Wiebke Buxbaum said.
One of Horick’s neighbors, Betty Wheelwright,
told The Light that she is worried that the Verizon project would
eventually grow into a cluster of antennas. Through a practice called
"co-location," she noted, the county tries to group telecommunications
towers together in one place.
‘A Trojan horse’
"They remind me a little bit of a Trojan horse,"
Wheelwright said of the antennas. "They appear to be one thing
and they grow into something else over time. It may appear at this point
to be a smaller tower, but in all likelihood it will grow to be much
larger."
Flato said the planned antenna (which will be painted
green) will blend into the trees on Horick’s property. Cypress
trees will also be planted to conceal the antenna, she added.
County planners must review Verizon’s permit
application by Nov. 10, Lai told The Light. If Verizon’s
application is complete, Lai said, it would likely not go before the
county planning commission until early next year.