Faux water tower to house wireless equipment at Goldfield Ghost Town

By Richard Dyer
Mail | X: @RHDyer

A faux windmill housing a cell tower will be replaced with one looking like a wood water tank at Goldfield Ghost Town & Mine Tours Inc. under a permit requested for the property north of Apache Junction.

The Pinal County Planning And Zoning Commission voted unanimously Jan. 18 to recommend the Board of Supervisors approve a special-use permit for the wireless communication facility northwest of East Apache Trail and East Mammoth Mine Road in an unincorporated area of Pinal County. Absent were Chairman Scott Riggins and Commissioner Frank Davila.

Available images show the wireless communication facility was in place on the property since at least 2009 with approved permits going back to 2013, Case Coordinator Glenn Bak wrote in a staff report.

“Pre-application meetings for proposed co-locations on the existing WCF were held on Dec. 5, 2022, and June 13, 2023. In each of these meetings the applicants were advised to apply for a special-use permit as no SUP for this facility was found to exist,” he said. “The applicant, Scott Hopper, on behalf of T-Mobile, is requesting a special-use permit to maintain an existing 56 feet in height faux windmill WCF on the subject property. The applicant is proposing to reduce the height to 49 feet and remove the windmill to replace concealment with a faux wood water tank.”

T-Mobile is proposing continuation of the existing facility for wireless service as well as emergency services. Ground equipment required for the communication facility is enclosed by an 8-foot tube-reinforced wooden fence.

The water tank enclosure will conceal T-Mobile antennas and equipment from public view, Hopper of Pinnacle Consulting and on behalf of T-Mobile, wrote in an application for a special-use permit in an unincorporated area of Pinal County.

“Site has been designed to minimize the impact as much as possible on surrounding residences while offering a solution to provide needed coverage in the area to support those homes,” Hopper said. “There (is) no excessive noise level, Noise Level is typical of AC units on nearby homes.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission consists of 10 members, two from each of the five Board of Supervisors districts. The commission is a recommending body to the Board of Supervisors for land use matters, according to the Pinal County website.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley

rdyer@iniusa.org

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.