Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Planning Commission approves AT&T facility in De Luz

The county's Planning Commission approved a Major Use Permit for an AT&T wireless communications facility in De Luz.

Commissioners Bryan Woods, Doug Barnhart and David Pallinger were not present at the Feb. 23 hearing, but the other four commissioners all voted in favor of the permit to place antennas on top of the Fallbrook Public Utility District's Bucknell Reservoir in the 2300 block of Helen Road. The permit also allows for an equipment shelter and an emergency generator within a concrete masonry unit enclosure, and the Planning Commission also granted a waiver of the height limit and approved a notice of exemption from California Environmental Quality Act review, which will be challenged along with the driveway easement access by neighbor Bret Geller.

"I'm probably just going to have to file a civil lawsuit," said Geller, who will now share a paved driveway and gate access with AT&T as well as FPUD.

Geller and FPUD share the driveway easement.

"The Fallbrook water district gave out my front gate code without my permission," said Geller. "Basically this is a violation of the easement. It does not mean that they can bring additional traffic onto my property."

Geller noted that the road lacks the capacity for cement trucks and semi-trailers which may be used during construction and maintenance.

The permit conditions require AT&T to be responsible for the repair of any roads damaged during construction. AT&T will also assume the costs of maintenance which if not stipulated in a maintenance agreement will be proportional to the use of the easement by each owner.

AT&T expects that servicing will require one trip a month which equates to 12 trips in and 12 trips out annually. AT&T legal counsel Kevin Sullivan noted that Geller's property is classified as an estate residence for purposes of trip generation which deems an estate to have 12 average daily trips. "It has to be proportional," Sullivan said of the maintenance agreement costs.

Helen Road is also a private road.

Geller, who moved from Oceanside to De Luz in March 2017, has a dog training business on his property.

"Three months of construction will drastically affect my business," said Geller.

The provision of gate access for AT&T also creates the possibility that a dog Geller owns or trains might attack an AT&T employee or contractor or might be let out of the property. Geller expects AT&T to have the liability for such scenarios in conjunction with his own liability insurance carrier.

"They should be held liable if they're coming up the driveway or if they hit one of my dogs," Geller said.

The water tank is 40 feet in height and is visible from Geller's front door, deck, and backyard, so the antennas would also be visible from Geller's property. Geller noted that the water tank is also visible from a home in the 39800 block of Daily Road and from a home in the 2400 block of Vickers Road.

"There will be significant change to desirable neighborhood character," Geller said.

The facility will be approximately 55 feet from the property line and 112 feet from Geller's residence.

Sullivan argues that the 1974 grant deed gave the De Luz Heights Municipal Water District, which merged with FPUD in 1990, the right to convey easement access to others for telephone lines.

"AT&T is not a public utility,” said Geller. “They are a private company.”

The Helen Road property has A70 Limited Agriculture zoning. Although agricultural areas are non-preferred zones, there is no property within four miles which has commercial or industrial zoning and the co-location with a water tower makes the site a preferred location. No other wireless facilities currently exist on the Bucknell Reservoir site, and the nearest wireless facility is also more than four miles away.

"I think this is the best appropriate design in accordance with the county zoning ordinance," said AT&T land use planner Morgan Norville.

"AT&T's proposal is going to bring significant benefits to the area," Sullivan said. "There's a huge area out here where we have no coverage whatsoever."

The facility will also be part of the Federal government's FirstNet program which seeks to develop, build and operate a nationwide broadband network for use by first responders.

"Not only are we going to bring wireless coverage to the area, we're also going to enhance 911 service," Sullivan said.

Sullivan noted that the wireless facility will be co-located. "It's not going to have any footprint," he said.

The footprint of the equipment shelter will be 255 square feet. The antennas will be 6 1/2 feet high and 18 inches in width and will be painted to match the water tower. The tower will provide 12 new panel antennas pointed in three different directions, a microwave antenna, 24 new remote radio units, six filters, and six surge protectors. The antennas will be mounted at least a foot below the top of the water tank.

The equipment will be housed within a prefabricated equipment shelter 11 feet tall and 80 inches by 80 inches. The shelter and a 15 kilowatt emergency backup generator will be housed within a concrete masonry unit enclosure eight feet tall approximately 14 feet northwest of the water tank.

The project will also require trenching three feet wide for 40 linear feet which will allow for electricity and other utility service for the wireless facility.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/29/2024 01:46