Slideshow/Study: How Will This New Tower Really Appear?

"Postcards from La Veta" created by Ricky Tims. Not meant to be 100% accurate, but as it turns out, actually pretty darn close!!!

The Question:

We wanted to know how this cell phone tower was actually going to look. Would it go 1/2 way up the mountain? 3/4 of the way? So, we set about to figure this out precisely, to show it accurately in photos, and to share this info with others. It turns out the answer was that it depends on where you are standing. In some places its pretty small/distant (like from the golf course). In other places it towers over the town and dwarfs West Spanish Peak completely (like Grand Street). The before and after pictures are shown in the slideshow.



These pictures are accurate representations of what the new tower would appear like from various locations in town. Mouse over and click pause to stop on any image.

Methodology for the Pictures:

The proposed 180' mono pole cell phone tower site is adjacent to County Road 360 (Birch Street) on the right side of the road as one drives from town, at the elbow of the last right-turn in the road immediately before the straightaway that goes past the town/fishing lakes. It abuts the barbed-wire divider between the town property to the South and the private property to the North.

We located the site defnitively and located a telephone pole at the site. The telephone pole we verified to be 30 feet tall and located less than 20 feet away from the proposed 80' x 90' fenced compound.

We tacked a ring of large yellow balloons around the circumference of the telephone pole at the 15' mark (15' from both the ground and from the top of the pole). We then drove around town and took pictures at all locations we could find where we were able to see both the balloons and the top of this telephone pole together in the picture. The locations we took photos from were chosen simply because we were able to see our balloons (which were only 15 feet off the ground) from them. The 180 foot tower would be visible from many more locations than these.

The "before" pictures show the images without modification. The pictures were then modified in Microsoft Paint to create the "after" pictures that include the image of the cell phone tower as follows: The distance from pole tip to balloons was taken to represent the unit length of 15 feet in the photos and the exact location of the tower. I scaled that 15' unit up by 12 times (15x12 = 180 feet) at that location, to obtain the exact height of the tower at its location. An online a picture of a typical monopole cell phone tower (B of http://www.steelintheair.com/Cell-Phone-Tower.html), verified to be very similar in shape to the drawing shown in the application, was scaled/stretched to the correct height and overlaid on the picture.

Note: Details (such as seams) on the photo of the tower that would not be visible from such a distance were obscured with grey coloring so as not to allow the tower to stand out unrealistically. The width of the tower was not increased exactly proportionally with the height, and hence it is possible that the pictures show a "thinner" tower than the one actually proposed. It is thought the monopole in the model tower has only one service provider set of antennas shown, hence it is possible the real tower will have more antennae around the top. Finally, the pictures do not show the (up to 4) 25'x15' communications shelter building(s).

Note to Homeowners: If you have a clear view to the town lakes area (specifically if you can see at least the top 1/2 of the telephone poles along County Road 360 before the town lakes), I can create a picture for you of what it would be from your own home/deck/window. You can see how it will look and assess what you think it might do to your property values. If you want this, I am available to do it. Leave a comment here with your contact info or call me at 742-5538.