April 15, 2026 · Community Update:
Board Passes Telecom Ordinance, Silent on Small Cell Concerns
Despite overwhelming public comment, the Board of Supervisors voted to approve the new Communication Towers and Facilities Ordinance with only minor amendments, and pointedly avoided any mention of the issue residents cared about most.
On April 14, 2026, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors approved Section 12.03.080, the updated Communication Towers and Facilities Ordinance, with two amendments: grandfathering existing tower applications under the old permitting process, and modestly strengthening fire safety language.
What was striking, and worth putting on the record, was what the Board chose not to say.
Nearly every public comment submitted at this hearing raised concerns about small cell wireless facilities which is the equipment installed on utility poles in front of your home, without your knowledge, under this ordinance. Speaker after speaker asked the Board to require a Conditional Use Permit for new small cell installations, to give residents notice, and to restore the community's voice in the process.
"There is simply no basis to the argument that requiring a CUP for a new small cell violates any federal law or even any state law." — Telecom attorney W. Scott McCollough, addressing the Board via telephone
The Board's deliberation contained no acknowledgment of those comments and no discussion of small cells whatsoever. This was not an oversight. Elected officials who choose not to engage with the public record on a contested issue are making a deliberate choice, and that choice is now part of the record too.
What this means for your neighborhood
Under the ordinance as passed, new small cell wireless facilities are exempt from discretionary planning review. That means no public notice, no hearing, no community input. The first many residents will know of an installation is when a crew shows up to do the work. The ordinance will take effect in 30 days.
Small cells are not small in impact. A typical deployment includes antennas mounted at the top of a utility pole, plus ground-level and eye-level equipment: cabinets, cabling, and sometimes backup power units and smart utility meters emitting more RF. They are already being deployed rapidly in residential areas across California and in every state. See photos below, keep scrolling…
What You Can Do
If you see new equipment appearing on poles in your area, photograph and document it.
What to watch for in your neighborhood and signs of small cell activity:
New boxes or cylinders on utility poles — antennas are often cylindrical or rectangular, 2–4 feet tall, mounted near the top of existing poles
New metal cabinets at the base of poles — gray or beige utility-style boxes, sometimes padlocked, at ground level or low on the pole
New cabling or conduit running up or along poles, often in gray or black
A building or encroachment permit notice — a building permit notice may be the only public-facing signal before installation begins
Utility trucks with no obvious PG&E markings — crews working on poles for telecom carriers rather than the utility
New small poles being installed — carriers sometimes install new dedicated poles rather than attaching to existing ones
Document and photograph any new pole equipment you notice, including location, date, and any permit numbers visible
Share what you find — send photos and locations to info@nevadacountyforsafetech.com so we can track deployment patterns across the county
Contact your Supervisor — let them know you noticed the silence at the hearing, and that you're paying attention
Stay connected — subscribe to updates below so you hear about any new applications or community actions as they develop
To everyone who called their Supervisor, wrote a letter, called in a public comment, drove to a hearing and waited through hours of presentations to speak your 3 minutes THANK YOU
You showed up for this community over and over again, at every stage of a process that was not designed to make it easy. You did it without guarantees, and in many cases without recognition. The record that exists — the legal arguments on file, the testimony in the transcript, the issues the Staff and Board would not address — exists because of you. That record does not disappear because the vote didn't go the way it should have.
This is not over. The ordinance passed, but the community's voice is louder and better organized than it was a year ago. We will keep watching, keep documenting, and keep showing up. Stay Vigilant and Stay Tuned...
— Nevada County for Safe Tech
