New cell tower set to bring expanded coverage to southwest McKinney

A new cell tower is coming to southwest McKinney.

McKinney City Council members approved a specific use permit in a 5-0 vote to reserve land for a new Anthemnet cell tower on city-owned land in McKinney Council District 2 during a March 5 meeting, with Mayor George Fuller and council member Michael Jones absent from the meeting.

Council members also voted to approve Anthemnet’s lease agreement in a 5-0 vote as part of the meeting's consent agenda. The five-year lease dedicates 2,500-square-feet of land for the project and will net the city over $1,600 per month in rent from the telecommunications company, according to city documents. The agreement also limits the height of the tower to a maximum of 120 feet.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to build this facility,” Anthemnet representative Ray Roman said at the meeting. “Cell coverage nowadays is so important for everything... If you have a new driver and something happens and they don’t have coverage and they need it bad, this is going to help.”

The tower will feature antennas from three cellular service providers, including Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, according to project documents.

Some context

Approval of the specific use permit for the new tower, located at the intersection of Wellness Way and Stars Avenue, follows a February presentation from city staff highlighting poor cell service in southwest McKinney. This will be the third tower to begin development in an effort to improve cell service for the area’s 38,000 residents. Two other towers are also currently under construction in the area; one at TPC Craig Ranch and one at the Stacy Road Elevated Water Storage Tank.

“This is a huge public safety issue,” said council member Patrick Cloutier, who represents council district 2 where the project is located. “We do not have adequate cell service here in our district.”