Planning Commission approves monopine cell tower on Levy Road in Folsom

The Folsom Planning Commission last month approved a 70-foot cell tower disguised as a tree on Levy Road. The commission held a public hearing Feb. 18 and voted 4-2 to grant a use permit for the tower to Verizon Wireless contractor 51 Wireless LLC of Rocklin. Jared Kearsely of 51 Wireless said the tower is needed because Verizon service is not reliable inside buildings in the area, and the tower should cover indoors and outdoors in the neighborhood. "Verizon has chosen the least-intrusive viable site location that will fill this significant gap in coverage and bring vital wireless communication services to this part of Folsom," the company announced in the project narrative. Commissioners Dianna Laney and Amanda Ross were in opposition to the location near homes, with Commissioner Justin Hurst absent. As proposed, the permit allows a 70-foot tall "monopine" cellular tower, with antennas sticking outward at the 68-foot center. A monopine foliage cap would extend to 75 feet high. The tower will contain 16 wireless antennas and four remote units, staff said. The plan includes related ground equipment, including an emergency generator on a roughly 3.7-acre self-storage property at 590 Levy Road. The property is in a general industrial, planned development zone. The monopine will be co-locatable, meaning it has space for other competing wireless carriers on one structure, said Jared Kearsely of 51 Wireless. The plan includes a 600 square-foot area at the base with three outdoor equipment cabinets and backup generator. The equipment would be enclosed by an existing block wall and include two new metal double gates for access, staff said. Officials said the site will operate continuously but only visited about once a month. The company says the standby backup generator will only run in an emergency, plus once a week for 15 minutes of maintenance sometime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.