A massive “tree” is taking root on Kawailani Street in Hilo as a large cellular tower put in place earlier this year is covered with fake green branches.
The 154-foot-tall tower has 8-foot-tall antennas attached to its upper portion and will boost wireless coverage for AT&T customers.
The project was approved by the Windward Planning Commission in April 2015. The structure, which is called a “monopine,” is intended to “mitigate visual impacts to nearby residential uses,” according to a planning commission letter written at the time.
Once a project receives approval, applicants have five years to complete the work.
Mark Mann, executive director of Hilo Life Care Center, said he could see crews attaching between three and four branches per day.
Similar cell towers are used across the country, including in California where Mann used to live.
“They were just regular-sized trees; they weren’t redwoods,” he said. “You had to point out to people that it was a fake tree.”
Mann said the Life Care Center residents had not had trouble adjusting to the new structure.
“We’ve had no complaints, just people wondering what it was,” he said.
Jeff Darrow, planning program manager for Hawaii County, said neighbors were notified the pole would be installed during the application process. The department had not received complaints, but some people had “called and asked when it was going in, because they wanted better service,” he said.
“Back here’s got a lot of (reception) blind spots,” said one man who lives on Kikaha Street. Like Mann, he said he was familiar with the fake-tree disguise from his time living on Oahu.
Other neighbors in the subdivision directly across Kawailani from the tower said they were most concerned about the possibility of the “branches” coming loose in a hurricane and hitting their houses.
The pole is built to withstand 105-mph winds, according to the planning commission’s findings. There is no mention of the branches themselves, however.
“I like it more with the branches,” said a Mailani Street resident who also asked not to be identified. “Before the branches, I thought it was an eyesore.”
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
