AT&T has submitted preliminary plans to install a new cellular antenna at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Olema. The antenna would be located inside the steeple, and an 8-foot-tall brick power box would be built outside the church to hold surge suppressors and a GPS
antenna. 

Though the company has not submited a formal application, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the parish council have approved the plans, saying the 4G antenna would fill critical gaps in reception for AT&T customers from Inverness to the southern end of the Olema Valley. 

“This project will result in improved communications and internet connectivity for emergency services, the visiting public and the local West Marin community,” said Kevin Lunny, who sits on the parish council. “The final installation of this concealed antenna will likely go unnoticed—except for the improved cellular service it will provide.” 

Mr. Lunny said there is no concrete timeline, since permitting and construction can come with unpredictable delays. But he said AT&T told the council that it would be at least a year before Olema residents received better cell reception. AT&T would rent the space from the church for an undecided sum. 

“The whole idea is to benefit the community and the church,” Mr. Lunny said. 

Poor service has long afflicted residents of Olema and the patrons of the Olema Campground. The campground’s manager, Gabi Bell, said reception is sparse and unreliable, and she often relies on the internet to make audio calls. If power goes out, cell reception is not strong enough for phone calls, she said. 

“We have one bar, depending on where you are,” she said. “If you stand on the picnic table on your right leg, you might get two bars, but it’s very bad. We need cell phone reception in the Olema Valley. The rumor [of an antenna] has been going on for so long—they contacted me first and came out and then I never heard from them again.” 

Cell coverage is spotty in most parts of West Marin, including the Point Reyes National Seashore and much of Highway 1. Maps that interpret cellular coverage show that Verizon has the strongest capacity, while AT&T coverage is sparser. And even with coverage, bandwidth is often overloaded when tourists flock to the coast. 

Plans for another AT&T tower are underway a few miles north. This spring, the company submitted an application for a coastal development permit for a tower at Point Reyes Vineyards, though the county determined that the application was missing 19 items. Plans for the proposed 76-foot structure, which would be disguised as an old wooden water tower, have been in the works for six years. AT&T has completed a radio frequency-electromagnetic energy compliance report that found the installation would comply with Federal Communications Commission regulations, yet the county deemed a biological assessment insufficient, saying it failed to recognize riparian vegetation and ephemeral streams, among other issues. 

According to a map provided by the county, the tower would provide more reliable coverage to Point Reyes Station and Inverness Park. 

Immanuel Bereket, a senior planner at the Marin County Community Development Agency, said the tower will help close gaps left by two antennae in Nicasio, one near the intersection of Lucas Valley and Nicasio Valley Roads and one near the intersection of Point Reyes-Petaluma Road and Novato Boulevard. 

Though stronger but shorter-range 5G capability is designed for urban areas and requires many antennae, the Point Reyes Vineyards tower would include both 4G and 5G, a nascent practice that Mr. Bereket said is developing as companies are fitting their towers with next-generation technology. 

Cell tower proposals have long raised concerns in West Marin, but there are few ways to stop a new tower. The F.C.C. requires local governments to permit any project that would fill a major service gap, curtailing their right to deny permits because of radiation concerns if the project meets federal standards. The county is allowed to raise only aesthetic or design concerns as grounds to condition a telecommunications proposal. 

Marin has its own set of concealment policies, which led planners to site the proposed Olema tower inside the church’s steeple and design the vineyard tower as a faux water tower.