Edmonds neighbors pitch fit over new metal pole

Published 11:05 pm Monday, October 6, 2008

EDMONDS — A combination power pole and cell phone tower that rose up in a neighborhood here recently isn’t just a pole, neighbors say.

“It’s an eyesore,” said Karen Fry, who lives around the corner from the 92-foot gray metal pole in the Seaview neighborhood. “It makes the neighborhood less attractive and brings down all our property values, for sure.”

The pole was stuck in the ground in late August by the Snohomish County PUD, in part to accommodate wireless communication equipment for T-Mobile. It is located in PUD right-of-way between two homes at 8307 and 8317 188th St. SW.

Some neighbors say they understand the need for cell phone service but wish they’d had a chance to comment beforehand. They would have preferred wood or a laminate material be used.

“The only conflict we have is why didn’t we have any say in what kind of pole,” said Don Lund, who lives across the street from the pole.

“The city failed us and the PUD failed us, too,” neighbor Barbara Tipton said.

They’d still like to see the pole replaced, but it’s anchored in 20 feet of concrete and the $300,000 cost would have to be borne by T-Mobile, PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.

Monopoles that bear only wireless equipment are outlawed in residential neighborhoods in Edmonds, Mayor Gary Haakenson said. However, a power pole may be replaced and fitted with wireless communication equipment along with the power lines, he said. Power poles, whether they’re made of wood or metal, aren’t regulated by city law, Haakenson said.

Still, he said he sympathizes with the neighbors.

“It’s much bigger at the base than any wood pole would be and it’s really out of character with the neighborhood,” Haakenson said.

The mayor said he’s talking to his staff about changing city law to require that any wooden pole that’s switched out be replaced with a pole that’s similar in appearance. The decision would be up to the City Council.

The metal pole allows coaxial cables, several inches in diameter, to be enclosed inside the pole rather than attached to the outside, said Rod De La Rosa, a spokesman for T-Mobile.

About four years ago, T-Mobile struck an agreement with a homeowner to pay that person to allow a box for wireless communication equipment to be located on the homeowner’s property, De La Rosa said.

That homeowner wanted the cables concealed, and at the time, metal was the only type of pole that could accomplish the goal, he said. Since then, laminate poles that look like wood have come into use, De La Rosa said.

After the agreement, the ­homeowner died and the property sat vacant until 2006. The new buyer of the home agreed to the terms of the deal with T-Mobile, the spokesman said.

T-Mobile officials wouldn’t say how much they are paying the homeowner. Homeowner Melanie Witsman also declined to discuss the amount.

She said those who are complaining to city hall about the pole in front of her house likely are “all calling from their cell phones.”

T-Mobile approached the PUD more than a year ago asking that the 75-foot wooden power pole at the location be replaced with the metal pole.

The PUD signed off on the type of pole because it met the utility’s requirements for holding power lines and it didn’t violate city law, Neroutsos said.

“It is common practice (at the PUD) to switch out poles for cell-related service,” he said. “However, we have only five or six poles in our system that have been replaced with steel poles for this reason.”

T-Mobile paid the PUD $160,000 for the pole, Neroutsos said. After a meeting with the city, T-Mobile also has agreed to paint the pole brown and to landscape the area around its base. A couple of trees next to the former pole were removed before the new pole was installed.

Neighbors say they received only a few days’ notice of electrical work on their street before the pole went up. Afterward, they called Haakenson and a neighborhood meeting was arranged. Representatives from both T-Mobile and the PUD were present, Fry said.

“They didn’t answer very clearly why they had to use that gargantuan of a pole,” she said.

Also, five neighbors spoke at a meeting of the PUD Board of Directors on Monday, asking that the pole be replaced. It’s not likely to happen, they were told.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Fry said. “No amount of brown paint is going to make it look nice.”

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.