Three cell towers, meant to bring better signal throughout Santa Clarita, remain in construction limbo until their respective providers bring forth permits for approval, city officials said.
The city of Santa Clarita Planning Commission approved cell service towers for AT&T and Verizon Wireless in August and April, respectively, but have yet to receive permits for the projects from the providers, which is the next step before a construction timeline can be set, said senior city planner James Chow.
“Each of the carriers are responsible for moving those permits forward, and ultimately moving the construction process forward,” Chow said Monday.
The newest tower approved in August, which is owned by AT&T, is set for a city-owned location, west of the South Fork Trail and east of Alicante Drive, on an existing Southern California Edison lattice tower at 48 feet, according to city documents.
The other of the AT&T towers, approved in April, is on property that is city-controlled in Canyon Country Park, located on 17615 Soledad Canyon Road. It is slated to be a 12-foot wide by 12-foot long and 42-foot tall two-faced clock tower that will have 12 antennas, and is said by providers to not interfere with existing parking available in the Canyon Country area.
The Verizon tower, also approved in April, will be located on the southern portion of the private Sanctuary Church property, at 26460 Friendly Valley Parkway, near the intersection of Friendly Valley Parkway and Sierra Highway. The 360-square-foot facility will include 12 panel antennas, 18 remote radio units, one GPS antenna, one stand-by generator and two equipment cabinets, while standing 47 feet tall.
The locations for the towers are all final, Chow said. In Santa Clarita, an estimated 65-70 wireless communications facilities have been built by cellular companies operating in the valley. The number is only an estimate due to a number of factors including towers being turned off or decommissioned, he said.
The providers have two years to pull the permits, with opportunities for one-year extensions. After they are pulled, construction would begin and vary between six to eight months, Chow said.
Cell signal locations can be seen on crowded sourced coverage maps like those seen on Sensorly.com and Opensignal.com.
