Manhattan Beach should expect to see some new telephone poles popping up around the neighborhood pretty soon.
Last week, representatives from Verizon met with members of the Manhattan Beach Community Group and Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association at the offices of Community Board 15 to discuss plans to bring enhanced Fios broadband and TV service to the area.
To accomplish that goal, Verizon needs to install new poles in the neighborhood to carry the necessary fiber optic cables.
But according to those who attended the meeting, Manhattan Beach won’t have to contend with a whole new slew of telephone poles sprouting up everywhere like weeds.
Instead, Verizon will utilize poles already in place throughout the neighborhood.
Just four new telephone poles to be placed on Oriental Boulevard, Pembroke Street and Hampton Avenue will reportedly be necessary.
“They [Verizon] have really been bending over backwards [to accommodate Manhattan Beach],” Community Board 15 Chair Thesesa Scavo said. “Four poles is really not that bad.”
Verizon has already met with the Department of Transportation to begin the permit process, and they hope to be up and running in Manhattan Beach by November.
Existing telephone poles found to be in poor condition will have to be replaced.
While the siting of three of the new poles on Oriental Boulevard and Pembroke street is so far not considered controversial, a fourth will require negotiations with at least one homeowner on Hampton Avenue.
Similar plans to bring Verizon’s Fios service to Marine Park earlier this year sparked a backlash from homeowners who decided to deny the communications giant access to their properties.
Verizon started selling Fios packages in Manhattan Beach this summer. The service is already available in 108 neighborhoods throughout New York City and Verizon hopes to have all five boroughs fully wired in six years.