Plumas supervisors move to seek halt and review of 200-foot cell tower near Washoe family cemetery in Greenville

Plumas County supervisors on Sept. 2 directed county counsel and staff to seek documentation and pursue a possible stop to construction of a 199–200-foot telecommunications tower on Powerline Road near Greenville after residents and tribal family members said the structure stands in sight of the Washoe family cemetery and unmarked ancestral burial sites.

The board’s action followed extensive public comment from local residents and tribal descendants who said the tower’s ground lease and building permit were processed under a Timberland Production Zone exemption that did not require local notice. “The Washoe Cemetery is more than just a resting place. It is a sacred ground,” Dwayne Anthony Washoe Jr. told the board in a written statement read into the record. “The proposed construction of a Verizon cell tower on Sierra Pacific Industries land in such close proximity to this cemetery raises serious concerns.”

The county planning director, Tracy Ferguson, told the board the parcel (Assessor’s Parcel Number 004-030-024; address assigned April 1, 2025: 1006 Powerline Road) is zoned TPZ (Timberland Production Zone). Under Plumas County’s telecommunications ordinance (Article 41, adopted 2019), telecommunications facilities on TPZ parcels are exempt from the ordinance’s standards and may proceed by building permit as a ministerial action, she said. Ferguson said the building permit application was received April 9, 2024; planning review approved June 5, 2024; building department approval June 8, 2024; and the building permit was issued Aug. 5, 2025. A building inspector…