Pockets of Rancho Palos Verdes have no cell service — and residents want to keep it that way

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.

Wireless providers have requested city officials relax regulations and allow them to install larger facilities and skip public input.

But residents like Charles Nixt, a realtor, spoke out against the proposed code changes at the City Council meeting.

“ As a realtor, I know that RPV's property values are tied to our unique aesthetics and quality of life,” he said. “By removing community input, you are removing the only check and balance we have to ensure these installations are compatible with our residential zones.”

Another person who grew up in the city called the Rancho Palos Verdes open spaces and trails, “the visual identity of our city.”

“ We should not be forced to trade our tranquility of our backyards and the beauty of our trails for a solution to a problem that many of us simply don't have,” he said.

But Mayor Paul Seo, who supported updating regulations to increase connectivity, shared a story in which he said a resident died because a neighbor couldn't call emergency services in time.

“ A senior citizen was walking on the sidewalk and he ended up having a heart attack. (A neighbor) couldn't call out for 10 minutes, couldn't call an ambulance. The neighbor had to run all the way home to get on Wi-Fi,” Seo said. “He ended up passing. If we had reception, then he would have survived.”