Boulder County approves 100-foot cell tower at Eldora Resort

The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners approved a special-use application Oct. 1 for a 100-foot telecommunications tower at Eldora Resort’s Fox parking lot. The board adopted staff-recommended conditions and added requirements for the tower’s design and coating, the meeting transcript records.

The tower is intended mainly to improve Verizon service and capacity at the resort and along Lake Eldora Ski Road. Verizon representative Ryan Sager said the Eldora townsite might receive about one bar of service, but calls could fail or drop and data service would likely remain unreliable.

T-Mobile had expressed interest in moving equipment to the tower, and Verizon identified AT&T as a possible future co-locator. Neither carrier’s participation was confirmed at the hearing.

The conditions include moving the tower slightly outside a mapped debris-flow-susceptibility area and addressing access and wildfire mitigation. Staff said access issues would be handled through permitting. The commissioners also required a county-approved plan for maintaining a durable, weather-resistant coating before construction. They favored a single-pole design unless the applicant shows county staff that it is infeasible; Commissioner Levy’s amendment called for an alternative to follow design parameters presented at the hearing.

Staff said the tower would be most visible from the resort and approach areas. Its analysis found it would not be visible from the townsite based on topography alone, but did not account for vegetation or structures. Commissioners also asked how additional carriers’ equipment could affect the tower’s appearance.

The county Planning Commission unanimously recommended conditional approval in June. Its meeting packet documents that recommendation, which was separate from the commissioners’ final decision.