Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.
In an attempt to appease homeowners and accommodate the Las Vegas Valley's cell phone users, Clark County is branching out with a proposed policy on the design of telecommunications towers.
With the blessing of the Clark County Commission, county planners are considering requiring telecommunications companies to camouflage their towers as palm trees.
Barbara Ginoulias, assistant director of the planning division, admits it's difficult to discuss the proposal without cracking a smile. But she believes the policy will get to the root of the problem: the aesthetics of the much-needed cell phone towers.
"We understand we'll need more of these towers, but residents don't want a 65-foot-high tower in their neighborhood," Ginoulias said. "We're trying to keep them in commercial areas or beltways, but that's not always possible."
So rather than an imposing telecommunications pole, residents may soon see 65-foot-tall "palm trees."
Ginoulias said she stumbled upon the idea while driving in Northern California. She saw a lone pine tree that truly looked natural and it wasn't until she was next to the tower when she realized it wasn't real.
"It looked like a pine tree until I got really close," she said. "And the palm trees are much better."
Ginoulias has since learned camouflaging towers is common in California and Arizona. Larson Utility Camouflage of Tucson, Ariz., designs towers that look like pines, palms, cactus and even clock towers.
Larry Hibler, director of Larson's camouflage division, said his company began working on the designs in the early 1990s, when wireless telecommunications firms began flooding the market.
"Since then we've expanded our trees to pines, firs and palms," Hibler said. "Trees are still our primary business, but we also do boulders and giant saguaro cactuses."
The tree designs cost about three times more than the standard telecommunications towers, which range from $5,000 to $200,000. The trees have a pole that is painted with a special artificial bark coating. The branches are made of material that won't interfere with the tower's signal, Hibler said.
"The site needs to look good, but it also needs to work effectively," he said.
Hibler said the trees can be furnished with enough branches so that antennas cannot be seen. They can also be equipped to carry signals for multiple wireless companies.
Vicki Soares, public relations manager for Sprint PCS, said the company is not opposed to the proposal and in fact has built several "stealth sites" in Southern California. Like local governments, Sprint is trying to balance the need for towers with residents' wishes.
"What we try to do is listen to the property owner and try to make (the towers) as nonintrusive as possible," she said.
Ginoulias said the planning department plans to meet with the telecommunications industry and research the cost to build and maintain the palm tree towers before bringing a proposal back to the commission for final approval.
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