Commission approves 120-foot wireless monopole at Chaparral site with colocation and cleanup conditions

Doña Ana County’s Planning and Zoning Commission on March 13 approved a special-use permit to install a 120-foot wireless communications monopole on a 5.75-acre parcel in the Chaparral area.

Staff described the proposed monopole and site: the parcel already hosts a cannabis production facility, a fenced compound and an older communications tower to the northeast. The applicant proposed a new 120-foot monopole behind existing containers and equipment, with a foundation and structural analysis submitted demonstrating capacity for the load and future co-location. Staff noted that a 110% fall-zone setback requirement is met and that only temporary construction traffic is anticipated; no letters of opposition were received.

The commission’s conditional approval requires that ground-mounted equipment and the monopole base be secured inside an opaque fence or solid wall at least eight feet tall, that the tower be engineered to accommodate future colocation and that temporary storage containers be removed from the site after construction. Staff and the applicant said no ongoing water or sewer service would be required for tower operation, and that construction-phase traffic would be the only anticipated short-term increase.

The applicant said the storage containers would be returned to the company’s lay-down yard after work is finished and emphasized that the nearby existing tower is at capacity and replacement/expansion is required to serve additional users and community broadband needs. Commissioners voted to approve the application with the recommended staff conditions.