Scott Abrams lives 900 feet from a Verizon cellphone tower on Powerline Road near Greenville. Construction began in September 2025 without any notification to him or his neighbors about the industrial structure being built so close to their homes.
Their objections failed. A 2019 Plumas County ordinance requires no notification for telecommunications towers built on land zoned for timber production. The ordinance also does not consider Native American cemeteries or cultural sites. The Powerline Road tower sits right next to a Maidu family cemetery.
The neighbors managed to halt construction for a few weeks. County officials later said they had no legal authority to stop Verizon’s project.
The Plumas County Board of Supervisors plans to finalize changes to the telecommunications ordinance on September 1. The changes aim to address gaps in the 2019 law.
The 2019 ordinance was created when several companies proposed cell towers across the county. At that time, the county had no rules guiding tower placement. Projects only needed a simple building permit.
The ordinance set two permit types. One allowed a zoning compliance certificate without a county decision. The other required a special use permit and a public hearing for projects that might not fit the area.
The ordinance excluded land zoned for timber production from notification rules. Officials assumed these lands were far from homes and businesses.
The ordinance passed with a 3-1 vote. Supervisor Lori Simpson opposed it, and Supervisor Kevin Goss had previously voiced concerns.
At the August 18 meeting, Supervisor Jeff Engel, who voted for the ordinance in 2019, said they felt pressure to expand cell service in the county. He called it “unfortunate” when companies use loopholes to bypass rules.
Public outrage over the Verizon tower near Greenville pushed supervisors to reconsider the ordinance. The tower’s proximity to a Maidu family cemetery added to the controversy. The Maidu community learned about the construction only after crews started digging, said Ben Cunningham, chairman of the Maidu Summit Consortium.
The supervisors held meetings in November and December 2025. They dropped objections to the Powerline Road tower but asked the Planning Commission to recommend changes.
The Planning Commission held three public workshops and unanimously recommended major amendments on June 18.
The new rules would remove the exemption for timber production zones. They would require zoning clearance certificates for facilities, buildings, and poles, and special use permits for new towers or poles.
Public notification would expand to all neighbors within 1,000 feet of a 100-foot tower and within 1
