By a 4-1 vote, the Pinole City Council has rejected a lease agreement with Verizon Wireless to build a 78-foot tower in a city park.
The lone vote Tuesday night in support of the lease agreement was City Councilman Roy Swearingen.
Patch has left messages with Verizon officials and will update this story when we hear back from them.
Verizon had already received a conditional use permit from the Pinole Planning Commission. However, the council stopped the project in its tracks by turning down the lease agreement.
The 25-year contract would have provided the city with more than $26,000 a year in lease payments from Verizon.
However, Mayor Debbie Long told Patch there were concerns over the lease's terms and the site location.
Long said she didn't like the clause in the agreement that allowed Verizon to back out of the deal every five years. The city didn't have that option.
Long added the tower's location in Pinole Valley Park was a place where there is a lot of foot traffic.
More than a dozen residents attended the meeting to voice their objection to the tower. Long said they were quite happy about the vote.
"They don't want any other activity at their parks other than recreation," she noted.
Patch blogger Ivette Rico has posted a column about the council meeting and the residents' reaction to the vote.
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