By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Placitas residents turned out in force and won as Sandoval County’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously rejected a permit for a 75-foot Verizon cell tower, siding with a community that flooded the hearing room and submitted hundreds of written objections.
About 50 residents arrived an hour before the meeting started, and county staff said every viewing area in the building was full. Nearly every Placitas resident in the room wore a red ribbon as a sign of unity. By the time commissioners voted, they had received 318 letters in opposition — submitted through a community website, noplacitastower.org — and heard dozens of in-person speakers. The hearing stretched more than four hours.
Scott Quinn, an agent for Sun State Tower and Pinnacle Consulting representing Verizon, argued the area has a genuine coverage gap affecting emergency calls and that the proposed site — on Tract 5A-1A-W of the Placitas Homesteads Subdivision at 4 Tierra Madre Road — was the only commercially viable location after three alternatives, including a site near the fire station, failed to meet requirements.
Residents pushed back on that claim. A retired Sandia Labs engineer told the commission the coverage gap analysis was incomplete, and others raised concerns about aesthetics, wildlife, property values and the tower’s conflict with the Placitas Area Plan.
Commissioners denied the permit citing the need for “more dialogue” on the county’s review process. The commission also directed a fresh look at tower aesthetics and whether the area actually requires additional coverage. Verizon’s agent can appeal the decision to the Sandoval County Commission or refile a new application.