Hollister
– Local architect David Huboi isn’t a high-tech guy. He waited
as long as he could to before buying a cellular phone, and even
now, he only uses it grudgingly.
Hollister – Local architect David Huboi isn’t a high-tech guy. He waited as long as he could to before buying a cellular phone, and even now, he only uses it grudgingly.
Huboi is even less fond of the two cell phone towers looming over Vista Park Hill. At least cell phones have sleek, 21st-century designs, Huboi said, while cell phone towers are nothing but a blight.
“They are grotesque and bizarre, to say the least,” he said.
Huboi isn’t the only person who thinks the towers are an eyesore. But unlike most Hollister residents, he’s in a position to do something about it. On Thursday, Huboi and the rest of the Hollister Planning Commission told city staffers they don’t want phone towers in local parks.
“They’re in our lives, but we want to be careful where we put those things,” Planning Commissioner Chris Alvarez said. “We should keep them away from populated areas.”
Hollister’s planning department is in the midst of revising its zoning ordinance to match the new general plan, and planning commissioners said Thursday that cell phone towers should be forbidden from three new zoning districts: open space conservation, open space park and public facilities.
Planning Manager Mary Paxton said that if those changes are approved, no new towers could be built in the city’s parks, open-space areas near the San Benito River or city facilities such as the wastewater ponds, nor could existing towers be replaced when they become outmoded or fall apart.
According to Paxton, most of Hollister’s existing cell phone towers are on Vista Park Hill, with another tower planned for Veterans Memorial Park.
Not everyone has a problem with the towers. Hollister teenagers Billy Bagley and Charlie Sorbet said they’ve spent time at both Vista Park Hill and Veterans Memorial Park, and the existing towers don’t bother them. Sorbet added that he gets perfect reception throughout Hollister, and he would be annoyed if that changed.
“Stick with the hills,” Bagley said.
However, the teenagers said they don’t want any towers built in Veterans Park. The park is already cluttered with lights, Sorbet said, and the baseball fields and skate park are too small.
But would the changes affect local cell phone users? Verizon Wireless spokesman Ken Muche isn’t familiar with Hollister, but he said moving the towers down from the hill could lead to a decline in service.
“Cities and consumers really need to come to a policy decision about what is acceptable to them from a coverage perspective,” Muche said.
The bigger issue, he said, is whether Verizon and other companies will be able to upgrade the existing towers to increase capacity.
Paxton said it’s not clear whether repairs and improvements would be allowed, because those rules are likely to change as the city revises its zoning ordinance.
Alvarez and Huboi both said they want to do more research and hear from Hollister residents before they make a final decision. The Planning Commission will vote on the zoning rules in June, Paxton said, and its recommendation will be passed to the City Council for a final decision.
