The Sapulpa Board of Adjustment has unanimously approved the construction of a new cellular antenna on a small commercial property just west of downtown that should greatly improve cellular reception for customers of multiple carriers in the downtown area.
Representatives with AT&T said they’ve chosen a small area at the corner of Mounds Street and Dewey Avenue because it was the best piece of commercial property that fit the criteria they were looking for.
“No other locations outside the Historic District meet the requirements,” they said in their application for a variance request, which necessitated the need to go before the Board of Adjustment to state their case.
Sapulpa Board of Adjustment Chairman Rick Engleman was one of those who expressed concern that the antenna would be near one of the City’s main thoroughfares, but agreed with the others that the need for a stronger cell signal is becoming increasingly more important as Sapulpa continues to attract new residents and businesses to its downtown area through the Downtown Master Plan. Urban Planning Director Nikki Howard called the move to install another antenna “absolutely necessary.”
John Mark Young was the only other one to question the location of the antenna, asking the applicant if they had considered placing it on top of the hill north of town instead. One of the representatives, named John, explained that they already had towers on that hill, and that it wouldn’t be conducive to add another in the same location.
“We try to design the network on a grid, with a certain amount of distance between towers in order to load balance,” he said. “One gets a little busy, we can shift to another. We’re in a hole right there, there’s nothing within a mile. This will allow us something that’s closer to the demand use that’s being driven up.”
AT&T maintained that the location was as near to perfect as they were apt to get, because it was close to downtown without being in the middle of it. “We got lucky, there’s a little bit of a terrain feature to the west that helps us out. The closer we can get, the better.”
The only stipulations the Board required were that there be no chain link fence surrounding the antenna, but rather a wooden, privacy-style fence; and that AT&T provide landscaping around the tower. The applicant agreed. Immediately upon approval, they requested a building permit, and said the process still has a few more steps on their side to go through, but the space is a “high-priority” site and it could be completed in 2022.
See the before and after
These “heatmap” style graphics display the cell coverage before and after the proposed tower.
Cell coverage before the proposed tower. 
Cell coverage after the proposed tower.
