Cathedral City panel recommends approval of 75-foot "monopalm" cell tower at Landau Boulevard

The Cathedral City Architectural Review Committee on Sept. 3 recommended that the Planning Commission approve Conditional Use Permit 099-2024 to allow SmartLink/AT&T Wireless to install a 75-foot unmanned wireless telecommunications facility disguised as a palm tree at 27620 Landau Boulevard.

Dom Camps, associate planner for Cathedral City, told the committee the applicant proposes to lease an approximately 654-square-foot portion of a 1.46-acre city-owned property that presently includes a roughly 13,000-square-foot building (the northern portion of which houses Fire Station 3). The lease area is a landscaped island adjacent to Landau Boulevard; staff said the installation would not remove any parking spaces.

Camps described the project as a 75-foot monopalm with 12 panel antennas concealed by imitation fronds and a bark-like trunk covering; the proposal includes an 18-by-20-foot equipment enclosure with an equipment cabinet and generator on concrete pads, screened by an 8-foot-tall shade canopy. Camps said the masonry enclosure wall will be 9 feet tall and set back about 30 feet from Landau Boulevard. Staff recommended the sides of the enclosure visible from the public right-of-way be covered with a decorative motif, and the applicant agreed to a $3,000 grant for a local artist to paint a mural; staff will coordinate artist selection with the Public Arts Commission. Camps also said the final landscape plan must meet water-efficiency requirements and will be subject to review by CBWD as a condition of approval.

Committee members asked about the retention area on the west side of the enclosure, existing drainage features from the site's 1991 grading plans, and whether plantings would conflict with the retention function. Several members favored low-maintenance desert rock and boulders rather than shrubbery in or immediately adjacent to the retention area, citing windblown sand and maintenance concerns. One resident who identified themselves as living at the Desert Princess asked whether they lived too close to the site; the committee confirmed there was no conflict.

Vice Chair King moved to approve the site plan, architecture and landscape plans associated with CUP 099-2024 with an amendment to use various-sized boulders instead of shrubbery on the west side of the enclosure wall and to retain proposed plantings along the south property line. Committee member Kiefer seconded the motion. Committee member attendance was recorded and the motion carried unanimously; the committee noted there were no public comments on the item.

The committee packet notes the application was submitted on July 26, 2024; staff recommended the Architectural Review Committee recommend Planning Commission approval. The packet also lists surrounding zoning as R-1 and R-2 to the north/east, PCC to the south, and R-3 to the west.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes (Aug. 6, 2025): motion by Committee member Kiefer; second by Committee member Haas. Outcome: approved (all ayes). - CUP 099-2024 (SmartLink/AT&T Wireless monopalm at 27620 Landau Boulevard): motion to approve site/architectural/landscape plans with the boulder landscaping amendment (mover: Vice Chair King; seconder: Committee member Kiefer). Outcome: recommended for Planning Commission approval (all ayes).

Officials and staff said the mural funding and landscape conditions will be included in the conditions of approval and coordinated with the Public Arts Commission and CBWD. The Planning Commission will consider the CUP at a future hearing; the committee did not set an appeal or implementation date during its action.