An 80-foot tall camouflaged mono-eucalyptus-design wireless communication tower can be constructed in the Red Mountain Ranch Golf Course on the west side of Power Road and north of Thomas Road in Mesa, a city board has decided.
An application for a special-use permit to allow the facility at 3940 N. Power Road to exceed the 30-foot height limit in the single residence zoning district was approved in a 5-0 vote Jan. 5 by the Mesa Board of Adjustment, with Heath Reed abstaining because of a conflict of interest and Chris Jones absent.
The item was to be heard at the board’s Nov. 3 and Dec. 1 meetings and was continued to the Jan. 5 meeting.
The tower is needed to replace an existing monopole south of the site, just north of Thomas Road, according to city of Mesa documents.
“Telecommunication facilities are an allowed use — they are permitted. The base height limit is 30 feet; the height is allowed to increase when it is ... meeting setback requirements from residential lots,” Staff Planner Chloe Durfee-Sherman said during a study session Jan. 5. “It is 80 feet tall; a mono-eucalyptus cell tower design. The colors were chosen to blend in with the existing desert plants within the area.”
The new tower will be set back more than 500 feet from residential areas and more than 130 feet from Power Road, she said.
The special-use permit applicant is Campbell A&Z LLC. The owner is Divot Partners LLC.
Crown Castle owns and operates a facility at 3611 N. Power Road on the Central Arizona Project canal bank, Michael J. Campbell of Campbell A&Z LLC said in a written justification statement.
An existing lease with Central Arizona Project will soon expire, and the applicant seeks to relocate it to the proposed site south of the golf course lake that parallels Power Road, it states.
T-Mobile is the initial tenant, but others can use the site, Campbell said during the board’s study session.
“It is structurally engineered for three additional,” he said. “With the new verticality it is also common ... when a new structure goes up, other carriers would look and see how their coverage is and ‘Maybe that new structure will help us better.’ It is an opportunity to combine cell sites.”
Mesa residents Kim Richter and Debbie Schwartzkopf spoke at a public hearing in opposition of the project.
“I don’t understand why the tower is being relocated. There’s adequate coverage there. I don’t see much of a change other than providing coverage into the quarry, which I don’t think we’ll ever have houses built on it,” Richter said.
Schwartzkopf asked why a site closer to Power Road wasn’t used.
“(A)cross the street — if you look on a map — from Power, right up just east of Power is about 50 feet before you come to a fence and then the canal is past the fence, east of the fence. So there’s this whole open space,” she said.
Campbell said during the board meeting all adjacent property was considered.
“Yes, the area was vetted very strongly because ... we didn’t want to impact an area where we don’t have to,” he said during the public hearing.
Mesa Board of Adjustment meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at the City Council Chambers, 57 E. First St. The seven-member board conducts public meetings to hear and decide requests for variances, special-use permits and interpretations of the city of Mesa zoning ordinance and sign code. Members are appointed for staggered terms of three years, according to the city’s website.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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