Newport leases land for mobile phone antenna

New contracts to be issued by the city of Newport Beach will improve

reception for mobile-phone users while beefing up the city’s

coffers.

The city in July signed its first agreement to allow a cellular

antenna on city-owned property, in effect becoming a landlord -- and

charging rent -- to a phone company.

The contract with Sprint will allow the company to place an

antenna on Coast Highway near Dover Drive. Both antenna and contract

are expected to be the first of many.

Mobile phones seem to be everywhere, but because their antennas

aren’t, their coverage is sometimes spotty.

“A lot of that is driven by the contours of the land,” said Janet

Brown, an assistant planner for the city who handles permits for such

antennas.

Until a couple of years ago, companies just needed building

permits to put up antennas, and all the applications involved private

property, Brown said.

“I think now that what’s happening is all the prime locations have

been taken up by other companies,” she said.

In October 2003, the City Council adopted a new procedure for

awarding permits that allows the city to offer its streetlights and

buildings as antenna sites, and to charge for the privilege. The

costs range from $1,100 to $2,600 a month depending on the location

and the amount of equipment installed.

It took more than a year to get the first agreement hammered out

because the process was so new, said Evelyn Tseng, a contract

administrator for the city.

“We were trying to work out something that would be policy from

here on in,” she said. “Most cities I’ve spoken to, they’re just now

getting into this.”

The Sprint antenna hasn’t yet gone up, but after it does, others

are likely to follow. Brown said about 17 applications have been

filed, eight of which are for city-owned sites.

And though the contracts may not make the city rich, they are

likely to help phone users get the calls they’ve been missing.

“I assume if you’re a Sprint customer that you will not have your

calls dropped when you go through that area,” Tseng said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].