San Mateo County approves renewal for Palomar Park wireless facility with screening condition

The San Mateo County Zoning Hearing Officer approved a renewal of the use permit for an existing wireless telecommunications facility at 1175 Palomar Drive in the Palomar Park neighborhood on May 1, 2025, allowing the monopole and associated equipment to continue operating under county conditions.

The decision matters because neighbors have long opposed the facility’s location in a residential backyard and raised health and visual-impact concerns; staff found the site remains consistent with county land-use rules and federal limits on radio-frequency exposure.

Angela Chavez, planner with San Mateo County Planning and Building, told the hearing the facility was constructed to approved plans and that no physical changes are proposed. Staff’s environmental review determined the continuation of an existing facility is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act. Chavez also reported the applicant’s radio-frequency analysis shows ground-level exposure at about 37–38% of the FCC’s applicable limit.

Public comment included repeated objections from Palomar Park residents. Sally S. Einspar, speaking on behalf of neighborhood concerns, said the facility “benefits none of us in Palomar Park” and urged the county to re-check historical records about safety and siting. The property owner, listed on the county file as Tanya Montadorati and who spoke and self-identified during the hearing as Lucanderati, said she has no intention of extending the lease when it ends and described paying unusually high electricity bills she attributes to the site’s power usage.

Jacob Hamilton, the applicant representative listed on the file for Virtual Sidewalk LLC on behalf of Crown Castle (serving T‑Mobile), confirmed the carrier has lease provisions and remedies if landlord power has been used. He said Crown has mechanisms to reimburse a landowner or to install submetering and that “Crown will gladly reimburse a landlord where needed” or install separate metering to bill the carrier directly.

Staff noted screening trees that had been previously required were removed by PG&E as part of utility vegetation management. As a result, the conditions of approval were modified so the applicant must consult with PG&E and propose alternative vegetation or screening that achieves the prior visual-obscuration objective without creating a hazard to utility lines.

The Zoning Hearing Officer approved renewal of County File PLN2001-00801 pursuant to staff findings and the conditions listed in Attachment A of the staff report. The officer advised anyone wishing to appeal must submit a written appeal application by May 15, 2025, at 5 p.m., accompanied by the required appeal fee (stated at the hearing as $1,962).