In Rancho Palos Verdes, sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island are plentiful. So too are cellular dead zones, which means no cell phone calls without working Wi-Fi.
The stakes can be high: The landslide that has destroyed homes and trails continues, medical emergencies can pop up anywhere, anytime, and lack of cell service can delay response times.
It’s a problem the city’s been trying to address for years. But residents on Tuesday overwhelmingly protested plans to improve telecommunications services, arguing new cell towers would disrupt the peninsula’s aesthetics. The City Council agreed and voted 3-2 to kill the proposal.
How we got here
In Rancho Palos Verdes, cellular service relies on telecommunication facilities that are larger in size and housed on private property and public facilities. Some smaller facilities are mounted on utility poles and streetlights. But city officials say complaints from residents about poor service and dropped calls have increased, raising worries about what to do in an emergency…