Yolo County planning panel approves 140-foot monopole south of Woodland

The Yolo County Planning Commission on a 5-0 vote approved a major use permit for a 140-foot monopole cell tower and associated equipment on a 23.79-acre parcel immediately south of the City of Woodland.

Staff and the applicant said the facility, to be sited on the Harlan Ranch property, is intended to fill a coverage gap for AT&T in southern Woodland and unincorporated Yolo County; the proposal includes a 900-square-foot lease area, a 30-kilowatt emergency backup diesel generator, and a 200-foot underground power trench to reach an existing utility pole near County Road 99. Aaron Brown, assistant planner with the county Community Services Department, told the commission the lease area sits about 500 feet south of the nearest Woodland residences.

The project was approved after a public hearing and a staff recommendation to adopt an initial-study negative declaration under the California Environmental Quality Act. "Staff recommends the Planning Commission ... adopt the initial study negative declaration, as the appropriate level of environmental review," Brown said during the presentation.

Why it matters

County staff and the applicant said the tower would extend reliable indoor and outdoor cellular service into a gap area that includes residential neighborhoods and the Woodland Memorial Hospital campus on the northern edge of the target coverage area. The applicant, Andrew Lisa of EPIC Wireless Group representing AT&T, said the proposed…