Trinidad Planning Commission Votes No on Berry Road Cell Tower

TRINIDAD, Ca (KIEM)– The Trinidad Planning Commission unanimously votes no on installing a temporary 75-foot cell phone tower on Berry Road.

The lease of the current AT&T cell tower on Trinidad Head expires in September. According to the city, while the cell phone company looks for a permanent site, they want to use the Berry Road location for two years.

Some residents attended Wednesday night’s planning commission meeting and voiced their concerns explaining they don’t want the tower on Berry Road or at Trinidad Head. They want the new tower installed east of town on Green Diamond property.

“Ultimately, the best path for Verizon as well as AT&T and all the other carriers is to locate their cell towers high up on Green Diamond Land where it would blanket coverage as much as possible for the entire area,” said John Graves, Planning Commission Chair.

“There’s a holdover clause that they pay 150 percent of what they’re paying currently,” said Eli Naffah, Trinidad City Manager. “If they have to hold over beyond until they get the cell service in place on other sites.”

The city of Trinidad will give AT&T until the end of the year with the holdover clause.