A new pine tree on Santa Fe? No way

The Shafter Planning Commission approved a request by APC Towers to install an 80-foot telecommunications tower that would be located at 3751 Santa Fe Way, allowing more telecommunication service in the area.

Jeremy Siegel of APC Towers was in the Tuesday night meeting, and said that the tower would be a "monopine tower" that would give the community a lot more coverage in the area. Th at type of tower has several TMobile antennas, with the antennas and structure made to look like a pine tree. This kind of tower is proposed to make the structure be more pleasant aesthetically, as well as functionally. A brick retaining wall would surround the tower to protect it and the public. The project would increase the coverage in the area by over 35%.

The commission asked Siegel the height of the proposed tower, because the height requirement of towers and structures had been raised last year to 120 feet. "The proposed tower is at a height of 80 feet," said Siegler. The resolution was approved by a unanimous vote.

In other action, JBI Oil has a fleet station located next to the Tin Cup, operating a gasoline station and service station. They were applying for a conditional use permit to remove underground storage tanks located at the site and replace those tanks with above-ground tanks. They also will be replacing the fuel dispensers with new dispensers. This is being done because underground tanks tend to leak, as well as the difficulty in detecting leaks.

The motion was approved, allowing the removal of the underground tanks and replacing them with new above ground tanks. The project is estimated to take about six months to complete.

Commissioner David Piuser asked if the tanks would be horizontal or vertical, and it was indicated that the storage tanks would be vertical and the fuel tanks would be horizontal. There is also a lube station on the site, but JBI Oil said that this project would not affect the operations of the service part of the station.