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Indian Wells accepts wireless master plan, forms ad hoc committee to explore zoning changes
Summary
The council received a city wireless master plan showing coverage gaps, released an interactive map, and voted to form an ad hoc committee to review zoning and concealed-site options to improve safety and coverage while protecting community aesthetics.
The Indian Wells City Council voted to receive the city’s wireless master plan and create an ad hoc committee to help translate the consultant’s recommendations into zoning changes that aim to improve cellular coverage while preserving community aesthetics.
Nick Warner, the city’s IT and risk manager, described a multi‑step study that included drive tests across neighborhoods and golf courses and a verification of existing infrastructure. "We consider some of those major issues causing these: terrain, land use patterns, and, of course, uneven antenna distributions," Warner said, summarizing the map results.
Christine Korovaczek of CellPlan Technologies presented technical recommendations: the study favors concealed macrocell sites for coverage, selective use of lower frequency bands, and limited changes to the golf-course overlay and watercourse zones to allow conditional-use review of carefully sited facilities. She noted public-safety reasons for improving ground‑based coverage and cautioned that satellite-to-device services are supplementary and not a primary substitute for local coverage.
Several residents and community representatives voiced support. Frank Holland, president of the Reserve Club Board of Governors, told the council his community is among those shown as underserved and called the coverage gap a "public safety, in fact, life threatening concern" for members. Rob Bernheimer, recounting earlier work on the city’s telecommunications overlay, urged continuing the city’s long-standing approach of concealed, stealth deployments rather than visible towers.
Council members discussed cost implications and technical realities: deploying macro sites can cost in the hundreds of thousands per site and requires power, fiber and regular servicing; the city’s role is to create a permissive zoning framework and outreach to carriers that make investment decisions.
The council approved staff’s request to receive and file the master plan and create an ad hoc committee charged with developing zoning code amendments to implement the plan’s recommendations. Staff said any actual tower or site would still require conditional-use permits and public review.
