Board approves 70‑foot communications tower to fill Verizon coverage gap

Commerce City’s Board of Adjustment approved a use‑by‑permit allowing Vertical Bridge to construct a 70‑foot monopole and a roughly 2,500‑square‑foot equipment compound at 4304 East 60th Avenue.

Planner Kathleen Taylor told the board the proposed tower sits on an I3‑zoned industrial property, avoids mapped floodplain areas, meets the required 25‑foot setback from property lines, and would be located behind an existing building where screening and fencing would minimize visibility impacts. The application included coverage maps showing a service gap that Verizon expects the facility to fill.

Jenny Robbins, representing Vertical Bridge, said the tower is intended to relieve congestion on nearby network sectors, improve in‑vehicle and in‑building coverage, support emergency‑service communications and allow collocation by other carriers to reduce the need for additional towers. Robbins said the submitted maps show the proposed facility will materially improve service reliability in the immediate area.

Board members asked technical questions about engineering requirements and the tower’s fall‑distance profile; staff and the applicant said building‑code and structural engineering requirements will be addressed in the permitting stage and that monopoles are engineered to meet applicable wind and load standards. No members of the public testified on the application.

A motion to approve the use‑by‑permit passed on an electronic vote with four yeses. Staff noted that the applicant must satisfy typical building‑permit and sign‑off steps during the permit review process before the monopole may be constructed.