A cell tower 'on wheels' is coming to this Arlington Heights office building parking lot

Verizon Wireless will install a temporary cellphone tower in a north side Arlington Heights office center parking lot just as its lease for antenna space is being terminated across Route 53 in Palatine.

The "cell on wheels" will be outside the building at 1500 W. Shure Drive, which is about a mile from Verizon's permanent equipment at 1100 W. Wilke Road in Palatine. After 22 years, the landlord exercised its right to terminate the phone carrier's ground lease and co-location agreement, which expires Sept. 30.

Amid the tight timeline, Arlington Heights' village board Monday authorized Verizon and the office building owner to "proceed at own risk." They still must come back to the board and go through the plan commission public hearing process for zoning and special use approvals for the temporary installation, and a proposed permanent installation of antennas on top of the eight-story building.

Village officials said such a temporary installation typically wouldn't be allowed in town, but they had no major concerns after reviewing the technical drawings.

Verizon's engineers will examine whether they can still use the antenna mounts left by another cellular company, Sprint, who leased space on the building. The new antennas will be comparable in appearance and size, officials said.

In the meantime, having the temporary parking lot antennas would maintain service for customers within a half-mile-to-mile radius, primarily along Route 53, Dundee Road and Rand Road, said Jessie McDaniel, an engineer based at Verizon's Rolling Meadows office.

"We were able to find a viable location that fits our needs, and hopefully we can get that up soon so it will be minimum impact to our customers," McDaniel said.