Cellphone pole approved for Riverside Park area

La Crosse city leaders might not like how it looks, or where it’s placed, but that’s not enough of a reason to stop a cell phone pole from being installed in Riverside Park. 

That was the basic legal advice given to the La Crosse board of public works, which approved Monday installation of a 30-foot pole for Verizon at the west end of State Street. 

Members of that board, as well as the park board, had objected to the Verizon plan for a pole — designed to resemble a lamp post — to be placed near the Riverside Park entrance. 

Attorneys for Verizon argued that as a utility firm, it has permission from the state to install a tower along a public right-of-way. The company said other locations would not work as well to provide service to customers.

City planner Andrea Trane says the legal department looked into the matter, and said preserving the beauty of the park entrance isn’t a strong enough legal argument to keep the transmission pole out.