Verizon Cell Tower Hearing Draws Neighbor Opposition - Decision Postponed to Allow Alternative Options

The Hermosa Beach Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to continue a Verizon Wireless cell tower application to its May 19 meeting, directing the company to explore relocating a proposed rooftop facility at 725 5th Street away from the residential properties bordering the site to the west.

The 5-0 vote came after more than an hour of testimony that laid bare the central tension in most cell tower disputes in built-out beach cities: federal law heavily constrains what local governments can do, but residents living next door to a proposed 35-foot telecommunications structure showed up ready to fight.

What's Proposed ?

Verizon is seeking a Conditional Use Permit to build an unmanned wireless facility on the roof of an existing commercial building at 725 5th Street, currently home to an auto repair shop, offices, and a CrossFit gym. Nine panel antennas, six radios, and three equipment cabinets would be housed in a screened enclosure painted to match the building's split-face concrete exterior, positioned in the northwest corner of the L-shaped roof — ten feet from a residential property line.

Verizon representative Tom Johnson said the installation is intended to close a coverage gap running roughly between 1st and 14th Streets along PCH, and that four other candidate sites were ruled out due to lack of property owner interest.

Neighbors Push Back

Four residents testified in opposition. Adjacent property owner Liz Brubaker argued Verizon had not demonstrated a verified coverage gap under the Telecommunications Act, citing the absence of independent drive test data or third-party RF analysis. Her husband Robert Brubaker questioned whether smaller, less intrusive alternatives — like pole-mounted small cells — had been seriously considered. A third speaker, identified as a complex litigator, warned of "a very long tail of litigation" and said the staff report contained glaring evidentiary gaps. A fourth speaker with telecom industry experience suggested the city maintenance yard and the Verizon central office near 1st and PCH as superior alternatives.

During the public hearing, online commenter Dave Horowitz said he had purchased his property with the understanding his view would not be obstructed and expressed concern about the precedent the approval might set. Resident Laura Pena raised a land use compatibility question, noting that 725 5th Street carries a Housing Element Overlay designation for very low and low-income units, and asked what analysis had been done to ensure the cell tower approval would not complicate or foreclose future housing development on the site.

The Pivot

During questioning, Verizon's Johnson acknowledged that the facility's three antenna sectors could potentially be separated — keeping the westward-facing sector on the existing northwest corner while relocating the remaining equipment to the northeast portion of the roof above the CrossFit gym. Commissioners seized on that opening.

Commissioner Hoffman argued the northeast corner is the true functional center of the L-shaped property, surrounded by commercial uses and largely screened from street view. Vice Chair Flaherty and others said the overriding concern from neighbors wasn't aesthetics — it was proximity. Commissioner Hoffman acknowledged the political reality plainly: "If it doesn't go here, it's going to go somewhere, and it's going to be a different audience of 20 people who now have a cell tower in their backyard."

After Johnson signaled openness to a continuance, Chair Izant moved to continue to May 19 and direct staff and Verizon to work together on a redesign centered on the northeast corner. All five commissioners voted yes.