Bakersfield Planning Commission Clears 150‑Foot Public‑Safety Radio Tower at 1000 Buena Vista Road

The City of Bakersfield Planning Commission on Feb. 19 approved a zoning modification that allows a new 150‑foot lattice radio tower at 1000 Buena Vista Road, a site described in project materials as the AgWater (Buena Vista) water‑treatment property. Vice Chair Biddle moved to approve the application and Commissioner Martin seconded; the motion passed with Commissioners Kaur and Neal absent.

The tower is part of a regional public‑safety radio upgrade jointly pursued by the city and Kern County that reduces Bakersfield’s number of city‑owned radio sites from 10 to six while tying them into a larger countywide network. Katie Reid, Assistant Director of Technology Services for the City, described the site’s zoning (R‑3) and said the water‑plant corner chosen for the tower was the only feasible footprint given underground piping and existing facilities.

Supporters emphasized emergency‑response reliability. "The Bakersfield Fire Department is in support of the radio tower project as it is critical to maintaining reliable communications for firefighters and emergency responders," Fire Chief Kevin Albertson said. Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Blakemore testified that officers have experienced situations where unreliable radio communications posed operational risks and that the upgrade is "an absolute necessity." Project consultants from Federal Engineering and Motorola said the microwave links and antenna heights are necessary to meet public‑safety reliability targets (engineers described link availability designed to meet 99.999% "five nines").

Residents who live nearest the proposed tower told commissioners they learned of the project only recently and said the new structure would double the height of the existing tower on site and intrude on their yard views and neighborhood character. "Those trees are not there anymore," resident Beau Koenig said about the project materials' imagery and later warned that the proposal could affect quiet enjoyment and property values. Koenig also raised health concerns, saying that at a prior meeting an engineer had indicated "the jury's not out" on long‑term effects; he urged staff to consider alternative locations such as nearby public land.

Applicants responded that a third‑party electromagnetic‑energy (EME) study was completed and that the proposed system would operate well below FCC exposure thresholds; Mark Mays of Federal Engineering said the study is available for review and that the team modelled tower height and microwave paths to account for current and future tree growth. Applicants and staff also said lattice construction is required to meet the structural footprint and antenna clearances necessary for 150‑foot installations, and that camouflage designs could not reach the required height and equipment capacity.

Commissioners acknowledged neighborhood concerns but cited the public‑safety rationale, the engineering analyses, and difficulties placing the site farther away without losing necessary microwave connectivity. Commissioner Martin noted the scale of the countywide effort and said connectivity gaps in outlying areas had persisted for decades. The commission approved the zoning modification; staff read appeal procedures, noting a written appeal to city council must be filed within 10 days.

The Planning Commission’s approval applies only to the requested municipal zoning modifications (height and setback exceptions) and does not itself implement construction. The decision can be appealed in writing to the City Clerk within 10 days of the decision. The project team said detailed engineering, permitting and construction scheduling will follow the approvals.