The camouflaged cross tower with flush mounted antennas is a good example of how old concealed towers can change due to new technology requirements to where they look more like a tower and less like a camouflaged tower that the local jurisdiction originally required. Anyone trying to add RRUs or other equipment onto a concealed flagpole or cross tower like this is only too familiar with this issue.
I recall working in St. Louis doing a project for T-Mobile back in 2000 – for some reason, many of the 96-plus zoning jurisdictions that make up St. Louis loved flagpoles. One company we worked with used to take old billboard poles and convert them to 48” thick flagpoles. Of course, they looked nothing like a flagpole, but no one questioned them until the jurisdictions got wiser. I suspect that if I go back to St. Louis all, there will either be a lot more towers or wider shrouds will have been added to the flagpoles. (Makes them look like Q-tips)
Now, of course, carriers can’t or won’t use fake flagpoles unless they have to – which means that new towers are needed in the area.
