Final day to submit comments for proposed communications tower in Morongo Valley
The comment period for a communications tower proposed for public lands in Morongo Valley closes Monday (March 16).
Announced by the Bureau of Land Management on February 12, the project is proposed for an area on the north side of Twentynine Palms Highway, northeast of Canyon House Road. It will include a communications tower, built on 1.2 acres. The developer, InterConnect Towers, LLC is also proposing an access road from Canyon House Road.
InterConnect LLC had proposed a tower for BLM land in 2022 closer to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve on the south side of Twentynine Palms Highway. Resident opposition led to the project being moved to this new location.
In 2022, the Bureau of Land Management presented a Scoping report that would allow InterConnect Towers to develop a 200-foot communications tower on public lands bordering Sand to Snow National Monument and Morongo Valley. BLM claim a tower on this site “would improve telecommunication and broadband connections.”
An opposition group, Residents Against The Tower, or RATT cited negative effects on wildlife and neighborhood quality of life. With support from the Morongo Valley Community Services District, Residents Against The Tower pushed back with comments and concerns including projected property value losses, environmental damages, fire hazards, and health concerns. In 2024, because of the opposition, BLM requested that InterConnect revise its Environmental Assessment (EA) to address those concerns. RATT spokesperson Sara Fernandez said that the new site was only 500 feet from the previous site, and residents weren’t given enough notice to protest the additional and remaining concerns.
The BLM is accepting community feedback on the new location beginning through until March 16.
You can learn more about the project and share your opinion here: https://eplanning.blm.gov/Project-Home/?id=bfce71b3-a7f2-f011-8407-001dd803d7d3
