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In an effort to improve the city’s overall wireless connection and cellular service, the Pleasanton Planning Commission unanimously approved a proposal that aims to make it easier for carriers to install or modify wireless facilities across the city.
The new ordinance and related policies is set to go to the City Council for final consideration later this month.
“We’ve looked at projects and discussed wanting to enhance Pleasanton as a destination point for businesses and economic growth. I think this kind of fits right into that,” Commissioner Dave Jagoe said during the March 25 meeting.
“If you’re a company that’s coming in and you see that, ‘Oh look, Pleasanton has a completely updated wireless agenda’ … I think that’s just another notch on the belt for Pleasanton that we’re trying to make life easier and business better for businesses coming in,” Jagoe added.
For decades, the city of Pleasanton has been operating under a municipal code and policies that place several restrictions on where and how wireless telecommunication facilities can be built. These policies have in return led to significant wireless coverage gaps throughout the city that negatively impact residents, businesses and visitors, Derek Farmer, the city’s assistant director of community and economic development, told the commission.
Pleasanton Unified School District Trustee Justin Brown, a former planning commissioner who spoke on his own behalf and not for the board or district, said during public comment that he has experienced these service dead zones and explained how, as someone who needs to take Zoom meetings while he waits to pick his kids up from school, having more wireless facilities around the city would be beneficial.
“Half the city is a dead spot with one or two bars, and it’s really hard as a resident to do that work-life balance and participate in the community,” Brown said.
He also pointed out how, in the case of any emergencies, he wouldn’t be able to contact his kids unless they had Wi-Fi.
Those are among the reasons, according to Farmer, the city conducted a comprehensive review of the current wireless ordinance and application processes and determined that a significant contributor to the wireless coverage gap is in fact the city’s wireless ordinance, which he said is outdated, overly restrictive and discourages wireless providers from installing facilities in Pleasanton.
So to address those issues, staff presented the Planning Commission — which only had three commissioners present for the meeting — with a new wireless ordinance and policies that specifically address macro (large) wireless facilities, small wireless facilities and modifications to existing facilities.
The goal from these changes, as noted by the commissioners and staff, are to improve wireless coverage throughout the city while also maintaining certain standards related to the location of these facilities and their aesthetic designs.
According to Farmer, the new ordinance would replace the existing municipal code and remove most regulatory standards and instead refer wireless facility applicants to the three new policy documents that are specific to the different kinds and scopes of projects.
For macro wireless facilities, which are typically large scale facilities that can be either free-standing towers and support structures or rooftop and building-mounted sites, the commission will be recommending that the council approve the policy with two amendments. The first gives residents 30 days from when the city sends out a notice regarding the applications to provide public input while the second stipulates that the notices go out to residents who live 500 feet from the boundary of the proposed macro facility.
These amendments largely came after Commissioner Anurag Jain voiced concerns over residents not having enough time to respond to these proposed large facilities and the fact that, particularly in a residential area, people will be able to notice large cell towers beyond the 300 feet that was originally proposed by staff for the notice radius.
“There could be a lot of angst (among) residents,” Jain said. “Not many people hear about this discussion today but when it comes in their backyard, they’ll be concerned.”
None of the commissioners had any issues with the other two policies as the small wireless facilities are usually attached to street lights and utility poles and the modification policy involves adding new facilities.
In regard to the location and design standards for the facilities, some of the main benefits from the updates, according to staff, are that there will no longer be any stipulations as to where these types of facilities will be prohibited. Instead, the locations will be determined based on several factors such as distance from residential or historical structures, environmental setting and zoning designations.
Julie Harryman, Pleasanton’s assistant city attorney, explained how the design and aesthetic standards primarily affect the macro facilities because the city will be looking for projects that are stealthy and concealed in a way that doesn’t stand out. She further explained how religious sites, schools, water tanks and other similar structures could be used to conceal these wireless facilities and make them blend in with the buildings.
Brown added that the district is open to having those discussions of using its schools as possible locations for these facilities, especially given the fact that there could be some economic value in doing so.
“On private property, the revenue from the lease would obviously go to that property owner,” Harryman said.
Aside from those economic benefits, commissioners pointed out the greater economic benefits of improving the city’s wireless ordinance and policies because it would incentivise more people and, in particular, businesses to move to the city.
Commissioner Brandon Pace acknowledged the sentiment, adding that for several years, this issue has been a top concern raised by numerous residents to the commission and that he believes enhancing connectivity is a major point of focus across the entire city.
“There was wide acclaim for the city bringing this up and having spent time to look at it,” Pace said.
Now that the commission has approved the proposal, the City Council will take up the matter at its April 21 meeting.
This is long overdue – Pleasanton currently has the worst cellphone coverage, if the WiFi goes down then there is no coverage in the home even to make a call in times of emergencies.
Pleasanton needs to up its infrastructure to meet modern needs of its population.