The Windward Planning Commission on Thursday approved an application for a permit to build a 180-foot cell tower on the upper end of Kaumana Drive.
The Windward Planning Commission on Thursday approved an application for a permit to build a 180-foot cell tower on the upper end of Kaumana Drive.
California-based company Renegade Towers LLC plans to build a telecommunication facility near the intersection of Nolemana Street and Kaumana Drive, close to the Daniel K. Inouye Highway. The facility would serve to improve cellular coverage in the area, according to Renegade Towers’ application.
At Thursday’s meeting of the commission, Danette Martin, agent for Renegade Towers, said there was a previous site planned for the facility about 1.2 miles further west, but the cost of providing electricity to that site was deemed prohibitive, so Martin chose the Kaumana Drive location.
Martin said she met with the nearby community and learned that there still isn’t reliable cell coverage or 911 service in the area. She added that she was able to assuage community concerns about wireless radio wave transmissions with the help of Federal Communications Commission data.
The Windward Planning Commission approved the application after some discussion over the proposed shape of the tower. Martin said she thinks that designing the tower to mimic a pine tree, like other towers, might lead to the “branches” falling off, should the 180-foot tower be exposed to high winds.
But the Planning Department recommended that the tower be disguised as a tree regardless, and the commissioners ultimately voted to follow that recommendation.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
