Carmel-by-the-Sea wireless ordinance goes to Coastal Commission; staff say litigation with Verizon remains on hold

Carmel-by-the-Sea city officials said the city dopted wireless ordinance will be considered by the California Coastal Commission at its May 8 meeting in Half Moon Bay, and Coastal Commission staff is recommending approval with no changes.

"Our ordinance is by far the most protective of the coastal resources that they've seen in our region," Speaker 1, a city official, said during remarks at a council meeting. "So ours is being recommended for approval with no changes, meaning we got it right."

The recommendation follows a year in which the city adopted application standards for small-cell wireless facilities; officials said the ordinance portion has now reached the Coastal Commission agenda. Speaker 1 said the city connected its wireless attorney with the Coastal Commission's attorney to confirm the ordinance does not violate Federal Communications Commission wireless regulations.

Speaker 1 also addressed ongoing litigation with Verizon, saying the matter "is still on hold. It was placed on hold with an agreement between the city and Verizon so we could finish up our regulations because they wanted to apply under the new regulations." That characterization describes the litigation status as an agreed hold while regulations are finalized.

Council meeting participants said the city has received no new applications from wireless carriers since adopting the ordinance. "We have not yet received any, you know, since the ordinance since we adopted the ordinance, we've not received any applications from wireless telecommunicate communications providers," Speaker 1 said. Speaker 2, a city official, added a clarification noting an exception: an existing-facilities request approved last year for a location on top of Dowd Arcade, which Speaker 1 described as "what's called an existing facilities request." Speaker 2 said the installed facility "looks like a smoke stack."

Officials encouraged residents who want to speak at the Coastal Commission hearing to either attend in person in Half Moon Bay or submit a speaker request to the commission ahead of the meeting; the Coastal Commission requests remote-speaker requests in advance.

City officials said they were discussing who from the city team would attend the May 8 meeting and expected to receive any Coastal Commission staff correspondences in advance.

The council remarks placed the Coastal Commission hearing and the Verizon litigation status in central, actionable context for the city. No formal council vote on the ordinance was recorded during these remarks; the statements summarized the city's next procedural steps and ongoing legal posture.