The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Next step is a building permit
By Katherine Nettles
A cell tower installation in Crested Butte South next year appears to be almost certain, as the Crested Butte Fire Protection District (CBFPD) cleared the final major step with the county planning commission last week and will now focus on fine-tuning its design and submitting a project application to Gunnison County.
The CBFPD has proposed installing an 85-foot “monopine” tower on its property at Station 3 in CB South’s Red Mountain Park complex to improve and replace federally decommissioned emergency communications equipment there. The tower will be made to resemble an oversized pine tree with antennas placed within its branches, and will also, in what the district considers a secondary benefit, significantly improve cellular network coverage for most of the CB South subdivision which has notoriously weak coverage.
The district met with the Gunnison County Planning Commission last week and after the presentation and a public hearing, the commission voted 3-1 in favor of approval. The district previously held public hearings with its board of directors and with the Crested Butte South Property Owner’s Association (POA) this summer, and in coordination with the POA this fall the district sent out a survey to all homeowners in the subdivision to gauge support (the survey results showed 80% of respondents were in favor).
The county planning commission public hearing was the final meeting required for the proposal. “Because this project was submitted by a special district, Colorado law required the county to complete a ‘Location and Extent Review’ within 30 days,” explains Gunnison County communications director Patty Dowd Schmitz. “As required, the planning commission held a public meeting, reviewed the proposal and took action within that required window.”
The planning commission discussed public input and asked questions of the CBFPD and representatives from the tower company, Western Slope Towers, before holding a vote on the district’s minor land use change. Roland Mason, Eric Phillips and alternate member Sean Patrick voted in favor, and alternate member Catherine McBreen voted against it. Regular members Bill Barvitski, Julie Baca and Fred Niederer were absent.
CBFPD CEO Sean Caffrey said that after the planning commission approval the last procedural step is submitting a building permit application to the county, for the tower itself and a 12-foot by 40-foot equipment shelter and backup generator.
“Our board will receive an update on December 9 and we do have some additional public comment to share with them,” said Caffrey, acknowledging there are some residents strongly opposed to the tower in the proposed location. “Overall, I thought the planning commission hearing was very respectful despite some differing viewpoints on the matter,” he said.
Dowd Schmitz confirmed this week, “There are no further steps in Gunnison County’s process. The county’s review is now complete, and the project returns to the Crested Butte Fire Protection District for any next steps on their end.”
Caffrey said the district is on track to begin the installation in late spring with completion mid-summer of 2026. “The only caveat is we may do a temporary COW (cell on wheels) site based on when the existing Verizon site needs to go offline to maintain service in the area during construction,” he said.
The current equipment was scheduled to be decommissioned by the end of November.
