Planning commission continues review of AT&T monopine after residents raise health, aesthetics and clustering concerns

The Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Monday continued, to Dec. 8, 2025, its review of a zoning administrator approval that would allow AT&T to install a 55-foot wireless communications facility disguised as a pine tree at 2065 Placentia Avenue.

The commission set the date to allow the applicant to provide additional technical coverage maps at different antenna heights and to consider relocating the proposed monopine on the parcel after residents detailed repeated concerns about visual blight, noise, proximity to homes and cumulative siting of multiple facilities within a small neighborhood.

Staff and applicant presentation

Justin Arios, associate planner, told commissioners the application is a call to review of the zoning administrator’s July 17, 2025 approval of a minor conditional use permit. The proposed facility would sit at the western end of an existing mini‑warehouse (Public Storage) lot and would be the third wireless facility serving the corridor; Arios noted the applicant provided an alternative‑sites analysis and an independent EME (electromagnetic emissions) report intended to show compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standards.

John McDonald, representing AT&T, described the location as “centrally located to address this gap in coverage” within a search ring submitted by AT&T, emphasized that the equipment “will…