Comcast Installs Big-Ass Box On Your Lawn
According to an article in The Press Democrat, some residents in Santa Rosa, CA. are coming home to find large green Comcast utility boxes installed on their property, often in the middle of their lawns. The unsightly green plastic boxes are about the size of an air conditioner and have been popping up in Santa Rosa as Comcast upgrades its cable network. Naturally, the residents are upset.
"I came home to find Comcast had put a green utility box smack-dab in the middle of my lawn. You couldn't miss it. My stomach just turned," said Cheryl Davison. It was an eyesore for Davison since her old equipment was buried in her yard and covered with a plastic lid. She got nowhere calling customer service so she decided to call the contractor who installed the box. The contractor gave her the number for Comcast's local network construction team and after 3 weeks got her box removed.
"No one is going to be happy to have the box in their yard, but Comcast could do a lot better with customer service and dealing with their customers," said resident Jim Chilton. Chilton returned home one day and found a box so close to his driveway he couldn't open his car door to help is 4-year-old son. He said, "It looked awful. The grass around the box disturbed and never replaced."
Chilton said he finally got a hold of someone at Comcast who promised to help him. He said, "Just trying to get a hold of someone to talk to is a total pain. They would not have done squat if I hadn't written their legal department."
Comcast's rival, AT&T, has also been getting in on the act by placing even larger boxes on residential properties. In both cases the companies say that the reason for the big boxes is that the new equipment runs hotter and therefore cannot be buried underground. "You don't want this sensitive network equipment to overheat," said Andrew Johnson, vice president of communications for Comcast.
Sorry Andrew, but if the above results are any indication, apparently you can put at least some of these equipment bundles underground. Although, doing the job right probably takes some extra time, effort and money which are all things you probably aren't used to spending on your customers.
Boxed in by Comcast [The Press Democrat] (Thanks to Joe!)
(Photo: The Press Democrat)
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Comments:
Not to be a jerk, and the guy whose box was so close to his driveway he couldn't get his car door open, that's legit. But looking at the photo included, it's clear that the box really isn't in the front at all (the shot's at a fairly severe angle), it's nowhere near the size of an air conditioner, and is smack in the middle of a utilities easement.
I seriously doubt this thing would even have an effect on resale value.
I would have just backed it over.
At least in the above yard, it looks so close to the street that I bet it is the right of way. It most likely differs from city to city, but right of ways come way up from the road usually.
It does look really ugly and I would be highly pissed as well. I would take a sledgehammer to it if the cable company didn't bury it.
If you were a homeowner, do you really want these boxes in the middle of your yard? They look absolutely horrible...pictures do not do it justice.
If I were this person, I would tie a chain to my truck and rip it out of my ground, and put it right in front of the main door to the lobby of the closest Comcast building.
What's the right-of-way? Is that basically an area on your lot where the city can say fuck-all and do whatever they want?
@aphex242: The photo above shows a sidewalk and a front door. How is that not the front of the house?
Agreed if I found one of these on my property I'd tear it up and throw it in the garbage.
I had one of these in my front yard as a kid growing up. It was put there by tele-media in 1985 and never bothered us. my mom planted a bush near it to hide it. One day I pulled the cover off it and all that was inside was a cable wire held up by a metal rod where it connected to another wire that went to the street.
I doubt there is anything more than a simple cable connection is most of these boxes.
If you have one on your property, its your property so pull off the cover and see what's inside it.
Looks as though a sledge hammer might solve the problem.
Even if it is in the right of way, why couldn't they have put it along the property line so it does not make the yard look like crap?
I'm pretty impressed that they got that thing installed without tearing up the lawn, knocking down that tree, and setting fire to the bushes.
See? There's ALWAYS a bright side.
I understand how this "sensitive equipment" needs to be cooler, so we have to mount it above ground...
except for this thing called "summer."
I thought the temperatures underground were relatively stable, hence geothermal heating and cooling systems for homes.
Couldn't that be done on a somewhat smaller scale to keep this equipment underground? (and yes I do realize that may require more digging as there is a finite amount of temperature that can be dispersed into the surrounding underground before you overheat the equipment)
Because I gotta tell you, unless these things USE oxygen or carbon dioxide, I don't see how having them out in the middle of a yard in 90 degree + heat in summer will really cool the equipment off AT ALL. The wind doesn't blow that much every day.
Judging by the picture, is this even considered a yard? Don't you need about 10 square feet of grass or something?
Those who insist on a sledgehammer solution might want to look up local laws on interfering with a utility; the penalties can be pretty harsh.
The right-of-way on property is exactly that; the rights of the locality trump yours. In many jurisdiction, there's an offset from the street that isn't even technically considered your property - it's city property, and hence, the PUC can give franchisees the ability to use it for equipment.
Comcast is not doing anything illegal. (Cheap and tacky maybe; not illegal.) If you "ripped it out of the ground", you would be doing something illegal.
The correct person to complain to is whoever does the oversight of utility franchises in your city/county. Chances are, though, they'll just have to put the box on your neighbor's lawn -- otherwise, no high speed internet / digital cable for the whole neighborhood - which would beget a whole separate set of gripes.
"Even if it is in the right of way, why couldn't they have put it along the property line so it does not make the yard look like crap?"
If it is in the right of way, it isn't on your property its on the city's.
Well really, as much as I'd love to pile on Comcast, it's not like the box broke up the perfect natural zen symmetry of a yard already graced with what looks like a giant subway elevator smack in the middle of it.
@SexCpotatoes: I'd guess they're above ground to provide enough venting for forced convection cooling. But seriously, that's pretty damned hot to need so much if it's forced. But yeah, it might be easier if it weren't above ground like that--in a big dome oven no less.
It may just be some contracted engineer's assessment of cooling methods, and Comcast just up and picked the cheapest (and ugliest) choice.
@SexCpotatoes: I came in here to say the exact same thing. Maybe they could have a vent/grate in the yard for air circulation as a comfortable compromise.
@SexCpotatoes: The equipment is not above ground for cooling reasons. The equipment is above ground for easier access, and to keep it dry.
Usually those green boxes are junction taps, where there's an actual exposed connector. If it were in an underground encasement, there's a higher chance of moisture problems.
Granted there are other solutions (watertight in-ground encasements), however they are, of course, more expensive.
If they don't need to be in front of every house, why can't they ask the homeowners where they would like the box? I wouldn't want a big metal box in an area where my kids played regularly, what if they fell on it and cracked their head open?
In the town I grew up in, the right of way for utilities was 10 feet from the street -- within that patch they could put whatever they wanted.
That said they usually did a good job -- re-sodding after trenching and re-paving if they had to go through a driveway or something.
The word for today is "easement".
Most utilities, including cable companies, have it on your property. Otherwise, you couldn't get many services. You're looking at massive penalties, including criminal ones, if you touch it.
Best thing is to call the company, and get them to remove it. May take some time, but most companies will do so.
@jaydez: Depending on what boxes we are talking about, there is actually equipment inside of these things. The ATT U-Verse boxes actually have fiber going inside to a mini-DSLAM.
No, it is most certainly not your property. If you think otherwise, try and see what happens when you knock out phone service (including 911) to your neighbors. You might end up waking up to a police man ready to take you away in cuffs.
The article doesn't say whose home is using these boxes. If it were put on my property and I weren't the customer, I'd give them one call to remove it in 24 hours and then remove it myself.
If the box is put on a customer's own property, the company should tell them before installing or put it where the customer tells them.
Would you put up with a mover that puts your refrigerator in the living room and then says it's "not their problem"?
what if you don't use cable or the internet? just saying? and they stuck this on your lawn.
and who's to say if i took a sledge hammer to the box that anybody could blame me? Prove it. That's what the court system is for, burden of proof, I don't even own a sledge hammer, now what?
The local electric dept. wanted to install a junction box on my property. They paid me $7000 for an easment right.
@SexCpotatoes: yeah I agree... caves are cool year round!
I think being on a lawn in the hot sun is a lot LESS cool than being buried.
What most people here are not realizing is how tiny that front yard in the picture is. With a yard that small, why would anyone be happy with losing ANY of it?
Put one of those fake hollow rocks you see in the Sky Mall magazines over top of that thing.
Just build a water feature around it and set a fountain right on top.
To all of those people saying they would damage it you realize they have full right to do what they want in that section of your land. The box was put on an easement that was their when you bought the house. The Easement's very but chances are they could pave in that section of your land if they wanted to.
They can't do what ever they want, they have to get an encroachment permit with the city before they can do any work. AN no, they can't just pave it if they want. It is most likely on the city's property, your property doesn't go all the way to the sidewalk, it ends before it.
Wow, gotta blame the developer for planning the small lots, or the planner for accepting those plats. Virtually all residential property has easements of some type. Usually (around here) the sidewalk is at the interior length of the easement, so it's obvious where the easement is. But I can see from the photo that there's just no property to speak of (kind of begs the question, why even bother?). Luckily all of my easements are on the rear 15' of my lot.
What yard?
I see a big square of plastic/concrete in the middle of some grass. That yard is so small, dogs probably don't even crap there.
a "right of way" easement is not the same as placing a permanent structure (like a big ass green box) on a private owner's land. The right of way easement would surely allow the utility company to "pass" through your land to access their equipment. If the land belongs to the property owner they cannot place permanent structure above ground without compensation or permission. Right of way is just that a right of WAY not a right to build whatever they want wherever they want...
"a "right of way" easement is not the same as placing a permanent structure (like a big ass green box) on a private owner's land."
As others have tried to point out, a 'right of way' easement is exactly that. Especially in pre-fab subdivisions that are so popular nowadays.
Comcast can do whatever the hell they want in a utility easement.
I hit the trifecta when they undergrounded our utilities. Not only did I get one of the SMALL green cable boxes from cox, I also got a cylindrical unit from ATT and a 4'x4'x4' steel box from the power company. Since all of this is in the grass median strip between the street and the sidewalk, there isn't anything I can do about it, even though they tore up 1/3 of my lawn.
Look at the bright side. Maybe this person can get a discount on services for Comcast.
As well, less lawn to now so you save on gas!
@Dobernala: If it's on your property, it's trespass and whoever put it there was trespassing as well. If you didn't sign an agreement to lease out the bit of property that was used, how exactly are you not within your rights to remove it and drop it in the street or on the public easement?
(the photo doesn't look like it's on the public easement. Looks like it's on the actual private lawn).
Can anyone explain how this is even legal without the consent of the homeowner?
At least they didn't leave a gaping 6-foot hole in their yard, which is what the phone company did when I was in high school. It took two months of threatening phone calls to get them to fill it in.
Otherwise, the junction boxes in our backyard weren't much of an issue. They were in the back of the yard and the previous owners had landscaped around them so that they looked like bizarre lawn ornaments.
As a few people have pointed out, chances are, this is not the homeowner's property, it is city owned right of way. If not, there is probably an easement, attached to the property deed which gives the utility company the right to do exactly what they are doing. Removal or damage by any homeowner would probably lead to vandalization charges and a loss of service to you and your neighbors homes.
@apotheosis: I'm pretty sure the 'elevator' was also courtesy of Comcast. From the article:
It was an eyesore for Davison since her old equipment was buried in her yard and covered with a plastic lid.
They're eliminating her front yard, one utility box at a time. Yay!
The biggest question is if Comcast is installing the boxes in the right-of-way near the street or if they are actually placing them on private property.