Installation of AT&T service upgrades permitted on Longboat

Town commissioners voted to change the wording in the zoning code to allow AT&T to install cellphone service upgrades.

By Carter Weinhofer
| 5:00 a.m. April 9, 2024

The nine existing Verizon cell poles on Longboat Key are 25- or 35- feet tall poles. The new AT&T antennas will be placed on top of smart street poles being installed with the underground utility project.

Longboat Key
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Better wireless service is on the way for AT&T customers on Longboat Key.

On April 1, town commissioners voted in favor of changing the wording of some of the town’s zoning code for AT&T to install wireless service enhancements.

As a part of the town’s utilities undergrounding project, the town invited wireless cell service providers to install mounted devices on the top of utility poles to bring service enhancements to the island.

“There was one component of this project that we pushed very hard for a number of years, and that was to make sure we had improved cellphone communication on the north end of the island,” Mayor Ken Schneier said. “This is the second of probably the two major components that have come to fruition.”

A rendering depicts what AT&T's service extensions would look like.

According to Director of Public Works Isaac Brownman, Verizon and AT&T were the only two that showed interest.

In early 2023, Verizon opted to install nine separate poles instead of attaching to the poles the town offered. Seven of those are 35-foot poles placed along Gulf of Mexico Drive, and two are 25-foot poles located within north end neighborhoods.

AT&T, on the other hand, was on board with using the town’s utility poles. The extension that AT&T is proposing to install would bring the poles to 35.5 feet, and the current zoning code prohibits poles higher than 35 feet along Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The company also requested permission to install a ground-mounted unit next to the pole. The box, according to Brownman, would be about 12 cubic feet and placed on a pad mount.

There will be six devices installed on the north end, Brownman said, and AT&T is also proposing to install another freestanding pole to fully connect the network.

The amendments proposed at the April 1 Town Commission meeting changed the maximum pole height to 36 feet and allowed AT&T to install the ground-mounted boxes.

Town commissioners approved a lease with AT&T in June 2023 for the company to start this cellular service upgrade. The annual lease fee for the town is $225.

Brownman said that while the offer still stands for other carriers to install similar upgrades, there haven’t been any other responses.

author

Carter Weinhofer

Carter Weinhofer is the Longboat Key news reporter for the Observer. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, he moved to St. Petersburg to attend Eckerd College until graduating in 2023. During his entire undergraduate career, he worked at the student newspaper, The Current, holding positions from science reporter to editor-in-chief.