LAKEPORT, Calif. – In a unanimous Tuesday night vote, the Lakeport City Council overturned a May Lakeport Planning Commission decision to grant a use permit for a Verizon cell phone tower project, an action that may result in legal action by the wireless carrier.

Verizon had proposed to build a 72-foot monopine – a tower disguised to look like a pine tree – on a commercially zoned property at 1875 N. High St., with company officials explaining that they had looked ahead three years to determine their coverage needs.

However, Nancy Ruzicka, who owns the High Street Village shopping center next to the proposed tower site, appealed the May decision by planning commissioners, and was joined in her resistance by residents of the nearby neighborhood. The council's Tuesday action granted Ruzicka's appeal.

Neighbors spoke against the cell tower in June, convincing the council of the need to find alternative sites. The council subsequently allowed Verizon two continuances – the second of which ran out on Tuesday – in order to explore other possible locations.

Throughout the council's hearings, Verizon counsel Paul Albritton has warned the city that the federal Telecommunications Act gives wireless carriers the right to pursue the least intrusive sites when trying to address coverage gaps.

Albritton has maintained that's the case with the N. High Street location, and he has indicated Verizon's willingness to take the city to court over the matter.

Opponents of the tower proposal once again filled the council chambers for Tuesday night's meeting. Absent was Ruzicka, who was stuck in a snowstorm while traveling between Nebraska and Wyoming, according to Community Development Director Kevin Ingram, who spoke to her via phone that morning.

When the council had last granted Verizon a 90-day continuance in September it had been for the purpose of exploring a tower location on the top of the Lake County Courthouse on Forbes Street in Lakeport.

Ingram said that on Nov. 23 Verizon provided the city with an update on its proposal that said the courthouse site alone wouldn't be enough to improve signal quality, but that the company was considering a second tower facility.

Possible locations for that second facility included Lakeport Unified School District-owned property next to the Clear Lake High School football stadium, private property on Crystal Lake Way in the unincorporated county, and a water storage tank location operated by Lake County Special Districts on Keeling Avenue.

Ingram said the first two sites were eliminated due to unwilling property owners, and the Special Districts site can't adequately address the coverage gap.

He said city staff followed up with Lakeport Unified School District and the county regarding the sites they own that were considered.

In speaking with Superintendent Erin Hagberg and her management staff, Ingram said the city was told that the district had gotten emails from Verizon but hadn't agreed to meet to discuss the tower proposal with the company, and didn't want to do that ahead of discussing it with the school board. The board next meets on Dec. 10, but so far the item isn't on its agenda.

Deputy County Administrative Officer Jeff Rein told city officials that the Special Districts site might still be an alternative, Ingram said, adding that Verizon continued to maintain that the High Street location is best for its needs.

Three residents of the residential area near the cell tower site – Elizabeth Kaneshige, Suzanne Lyons and Kerrie Hershey – asked the council to grant Ruzicka's appeal.

Hershey suggested Verizon call the Lake County Fair, where she said officials had expressed interest in having the tower.

Jenny Blocker, the project consultant, told the council, “There currently is a significant gap in coverage located in the city of Lakeport.”

She said that gap in coverage is most important in cases like emergencies, referring to this summer's fires, which she called “the perfect illustration of why we need reliable data and reliable service.”

Referring to a Federal Communications Commission statistic that 70 percent of 911 calls original from cell phones, Blocker also reported that almost half of American households no longer have a landline.

She said Verizon first recognized a need for the tower facility back in December 2013. “We've tried to look for a solution in the city of Lakeport.”

The proposed facility is camouflaged, on a commercial parcel and sits back more than 250 feet from High Street, which means its ground equipment is nearly invisible. “We've done our due diligence in investigating many different possible alternatives, 20 actually to be exact,” Blocker said.

She said the courthouse site doesn't cover the significant coverage gap and doesn't allow for a generator in case of a power outage. Blocker said the High Street location is the least intrusive.

“The federal law is what it is,” said Albritton, noting Verizon had submitted its analysis, and City Attorney David Ruderman had offered an alternative view of how the federal law applied to the project.

In order to resolve the situation, Albritton said the case may need to go to court to decide what is right in terms of alternatives. He said he wished the council would have followed the planning commission's action and accepted its conclusions.

“I keep feeling like there's no balance in this conversation,” Council woman Stacey Mattina told Albritton.

She suggested that more balance would come in trying to make more people happy with the project, adding she felt there was a lot of effort made not to go in that direction.

“You pointed out that we can't seem to agree and we'll just have to take it higher,” she said, noting she didn't understand why Albritton presented it to the council in that fashion.

“I guess I couldn't think of a more polite way of putting it,” Albritton said.

He said Verizon has attempted to pursue balance in the project, but that balance focused more on the needs of customers and the public benefit.

“You are much closer to the impacts of your community and the values of your community, so we understand that,” he said, adding his side was biased toward finding means for Verizon to provide coverage.

Mattina said there are other sites that offer coverage just as good as the High Street location based on the maps Verizon provided, including a site on 11th Street.

“When you look at the map, it fills the gap,” she said. “There's other alternatives and you keep going back to the same place.”

During their discussion, council members were united in opposing the High Street location, doubting it was truly the best option.

Parlet moved to grant Ruzicka's appeal, citing lack of compliance with standards in the municipal code and general plan, with the council voted 5-0.

In other business, the council voted unanimously to reclassify the Administrative Services director position to include the duties of city clerk, and reinstated the deputy city clerk position.

Staff also was directed to bring back an ordinance changing the city clerk from a council-appointed position to one hired by the city manager.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.