Verizon Wireless has submitted an application for a 10-year permit allowing a 45-foot cell tower in Point Reyes National Seashore.
The tower would be located on Mount Vision beside an existing Federal Aviation Administration facility, which helps guide air traffic to the San Francisco airport, and the Marin Emergency Radio Authority, a tower that enables emergency communications for the county.
The facilities sit at the intersection of Mount Vision Road and the Inverness Ridge Trail. “I would say it’s a preferred area for telecom towers and devices,” seashore spokesperson John Dell’Osso said. He added that the park would not benefit financially from the tower; any fees collected from the company would be passed on to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Anyone with concerns or comments can submit them to the National Park Service between now and August 7. Public comments may address concerns for this plan, the impacts of similar past plans or proposed alternatives. “We don’t want to limit people’s thought process,” Mr. Dell’Osso said.
The park expects to assemble an Environmental Assessment in accordance with the National Environmental Protection Act, a shorter process than that for Environmental Impact Statements, though the comments received from the public will help shape how the administration completes the environmental review.
There will be two separate public comment periods: the initial scoping period, which ends on August 7, and a comment period following the publication of the Environmental Assessment. Comments may be submitted online, via snail mail or hand-delivered to seashore headquarters. For information visit http://parkplanning.nps.gov/pore and click on the Verizon Wireless Tower link.