Residents’ protest puts park cell tower on hold

A city plan to erect a Verizon cellphone tower at Pacana Park was put on hold Tuesday when two residents from the Silver Oaks area of the Glennwilde subdivision expressed displeasure with the plan.

During the Maricopa City Council work session Tuesday evening, Victor Meyers informed the council he had just moved into his home the previous Friday and was looking forward to spending his retirement in Maricopa.

When he found out from some neighbors his view of the park likely would be obstructed by the proposed cellphone tower, which would essentially replace a light pole for one of the baseball fields, he said he was upset.

“They’re putting that pole right by a residential area,” Meyers said. “And not only that, but it’s right outside my house.”

Meyers asked the city council why the pole could not be moved farther down Porter Road where there were no homes being built, asking the council to “please consider moving it to the south.”

Craig Story, Meyers’ neighbor, shared Meyers’ concerns.

“We bought a premium property with a view,” Story said after the work session.

Story said he bought his property in 2006 and thought the land, which belonged to the Community of Hope Church at the time, was going to be a garden.

The land on which the tower would be placed was purchased from Community of Hope Church in 2008, according to the Pinal County Assessor’s Office.

The current city zoning code was adopted in 2009, although there is a draft zoning map dated July 31 of this year on the city’s website.

According to a report of a neighborhood meeting June 25 with Reg Destree, an employee of Reliant Land Services, Inc., the firm working with Verizon on the project, the location was chosen because the park is zoned for nonresidential use and there already are vertical structures in place Verizon could use.

Additionally, the site was chosen because it would be next to a maintenance facility and help to conceal ground equipment.

Addressing the council when the issue was again discussed during the regular session, Director of Development Services Brent Billingsley told the council, “It’s always been part of the plan.”

“This is the optimal site,” Billingsley said. “When the park was originally designed, it was designed with this in mind.”

He added the sidewalks were placed in such a way to allow for the cell tower and moving it would require utilities to be moved and additional paving, both of which are high-cost projects.

Councilman Alan Marchione sympathized with the neighbors’ plight.

“I don’t work for Verizon,” Marchione said. “I answer to the residents … I am not convinced that that’s the only place a pole can go.”

Mayor Christian Price pointed out that as the city continued to grow cellphone towers were going to continue to have to be built and not every resident would be pleased with the result.

“Last time, Verizon went out of their way to mitigate all the concerns,” Price said.

Addressing the homeowners, Price said, “I fully comprehend where you’re coming from.”

“But I look at this and I think, ‘Well, when this park was originally designed it was designed with this in mind,’” Price said. “I think that, at this point, the research has been done and the facts are on the table.”

Marchione motioned to table the item.

“We’re not denying the opportunity for a cell tower to be placed, but we’re asking for a little more time to do more research,” Marchione said.

Councilman Leon Potter supported the motion because “it is an opportunity to listen to the residents.”

Councilman Marvin Brown pointed out that future homes would be built and have an obstructed view if the tower was moved.

“We don’t know when we’re going to build out,” Brown said.