Brawley denies permit for cell tower near a sports field

Brawley City Council makes the final decision after months of back and forth with cell tower company - 13 On Your Side's Vince Ybarra reports

BRAWLEY, Calif. (KECY, KYMA) - The city of Brawley voted unanimously against building a cell tower on a sports playing field. The city said it aesthetically doesn’t fit with the area, especially around children. 

Brawley Mayor, Luke Hamby, said feedback from the community was vital in this decision making. 

“I think it’s important that the community members and public do come out and voice their opinion and voice their concerns over any issue that we have to vote on,“ said Mayor Hamby. 

Mayor Hamby said the Vertical Bridge failed to provide a real need for the cell tower after months of being given the opportunity to show the data. 

“We have been told that there was a real deficit of service in that area but we weren’t really shown any data to back that up, “ said Mayor Hamby.

The city and the cell tower company, Vertical Bridge, have been at odds for a while now. Vertical Bridge’s request for a permit has been denied twice by the city. First, with the planning commissioners, and now with city council.

Brawley resident, Nicole Rothfleisch, said she’s satisfied with the councilmen’s decision. 

“I’m super excited, i’m thrilled that the city council men have heard from the public, they’ve listened to us, they’ve looked at the new information that was brought before them and I believe they didn’t the right thing,” said Rothfleisch. 

The city signed a contract with Vertical Bridge before getting a permit request and now that the permit has been denied, Brawley City Attorney, William Smerdon, said the city may be in breach of contract. Only time will tell once they go through the legalities of the previously signed contract.