As cell-phone service has moved from being a nicety to a critical business need, wireless providers are investing $30 billion annually to grow national infrastructure. But in some parts of Colorado, they say, it can take months or years to get a permit to build a cell tower.
Colorado legislators appear poised to step into what previously has been a local issue and establish new, quicker timelines over the objections of city and county governments to ensure efficient permitting. And on Tuesday, in a vote that crossed party lines, a House committee advanced a measure sought by the wireless industry and business groups to create consistent statewide timelines and, supporters say, incentivize wireless investment.
“This bill is pivotal for the future of wireless infrastructure in Colorado and the well-being of our communities,” said Guillermo Lambarri, state director of external affairs for AT&T, which added $875 million in Colorado network infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. “This study ensures that the state remains on the cutting edge of technology and connectivity.”
What the cell-tower bill would do
House Bill 1056, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs and Jennifer Bacon of Denver, came from an interim committee that studied cell phone connectivity. Even with its reputation as a technology leader, members learned, Colorado has urban and rural areas with spotty or nonexistent cell service, hurting its ability to spur business growth in small communities and incentivizing national firms to invest elsewhere.
Colorado state Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs
HB 1056 would seek to cure that by imposing timelines on local governments to approve or reject applications for building cell towers. Under an amendment added during Tuesday’s hearing before the House Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committee, those would be 120 days for new towers, 90 days for substantial additions to existing towers and 60 days for equipment upgrades on towers.
In addition, the bill states that the “shot clock” on these timelines would begin when a wireless provider first holds its pre-application meeting with a local government, rather than when a local government deems that application to be complete. However, it also allows local governments to pause the clock to receive additional information that it feels it needs during the process.
Jeremy Crandall — assistant vice president of state legislative affairs for CTIA, a national wireless-industry trade association, said that with some 270 city and county governments undertaking different processes, permitting times can vary from a month to 200 days or even several years in a few instances. With wireless users expected to transmit 200 trillion megabytes of data in 2025, delays can leave communities without key service when such service is considered a differentiator in where people will consider living and working, he and other advocates said.
State “needs to step in” on cell-tower permitting
“Right now, these permitting processes are not interconnected, so we’re building homes that may not be connected to the cell-phone towers,” Bacon told the House committee. “What can we do to get really clear about when an application timeline starts? … The state needs to step in and say, ‘Because of how important wireless service is, we need clarity.’”
Colorado state Rep. Jennifer Bacon speaks on the House floor during the 2024 special legislative session.
City and county leaders argued, however, that setting permitting timelines is not a state responsibility but an overreach of local control similar to laws passed in 2024 that require denser zoning in urban areas near transit lines. And what the rushed timelines will bring is not an economic boom so much as cell-tower construction that could present greater risk of public-safety or aesthetic issues, La Plata County Commissioner Matt Salka said.
Local governments average making decisions on cell-tower applications within 60 to 100 days, though some small governments can take 200 days because of a lack of resources, said Bev Stables, legislative and policy advocate for the Colorado Municipal League. Speeding up timelines beyond what is necessary even for federally funded projects will let wireless companies take permitting priority and lead to delays in critical broadband and water projects, among others, she said.
Limiting review time could interfere with needed approvals at meetings from quasi-judicial bodies like planning commissions, and starting the timeline from pre-application meetings means officials must begin work even before plans are submitted, said Dylan Monke, a Jefferson County land-use planner. Plus, these rules would mean that local governments are required to act on tighter timelines than the state is for granting approval to put in wireless infrastructure, said Megan McKillop, legislative liaison for Colorado Counties Inc.
Is bill “a gift to industries”?
“This legislation lets telecom corporations jump to the front of the permitting line,” Stables asserted. “This bill is a gift to industries that don’t need it, and local communities will pay a price for it.”
Committee votes broke largely along party lines, with Democrats and GOP Rep. Chris Richardson of Elizabeth backing HB 1056 on Tuesday and Republicans and Democratic Rep. Andy Boesenecker of Fort Collins opposing it.
Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Greenwood Village, said the effort meets both economic-development and climate goals for the state, as supporters noted that it can help more people work from home. Republicans like Rep. Carlos Barron, a former Fort Lupton City Council member, expressed concern about the bill grabbing local control, particularly from small cities with limited resources that may be the reason for slower review times.
HB 1056 heads next to the full House for debate.