Tower ’s Site Attracts Interference
City officials will again consider a proposed T-Mobile cell tower at Fire Station 3 in the Top of the World neighborhood at its regular meeting on Feb. 2, and neighbors plan to again voice their opposition.
Neighborhood opponents began circulating an online petition this week calling for the imposition of local ordinances to prohibit all data-carrying antennas, even though federal law trumps local rules governing placement of telecommunications equipment.
Laguna Beach is already dotted by 24 cell sites, some of them used by multiple carriers, though requests have been made for 54 locations in all, Asst. City Manager John Pietig said Wednes- day. Some of the 54 were denied or abandoned.
By midweek, 119 people had signed the petition begun by resident Kristy Wemyss, a parent in the neighborhood who is most concerned about the tower’s potential health risks. Cell towers now transmit an escalating number of frequencies as data and images are embedded in carrier waves. Radiation emitted from a cell phone “is like holding a small microwave to your head,” she said.
While some people are concerned about spotty service and failed emergency calls due to the region’s topography, more express concern about potential health hazards identified in studies undertaken independent of the phone companies. “People are really worked up about it,” she said.
She pointed out that the International Association of Fire Fighters since 2004 has opposed use of fire stations as base stations for towers until peer-reviewed studies indicate exposure is not a health risk. http:// www.iaff.org/hs/Facts/CellTowerFinal. asp.
The local fire department was consulted over the tower about fire safety concerns, not firefighter health, Pietig said.
Due to federal rules that allow service providers to place towers in the public right of way to fill coverage gaps, “we can’t ultimately deny them,” Pietig said, “but we can offer an alternative that wouldn’t be quite so intrusive.”
The proposed tower at the fire station was just such an alternative, in part because other antennas are already there, he said. TMobil wanted to add the tower to fill in dead spots, which the company has mapped, said city staffer Gavin Curran.
While the tower may improve service to T-Mobile customers, Wemyss predicts the tower will also serve as a revenue source by hosting other service providers. A local consultant for T-Mobile failed to return calls seeking comment.
Pietig said the terms of the proposed $20,400 lease have not yet been negotiated, but that the typical city lease would prohibit such sub-leasing.
Discussion of the proposed tower disguised as a 36-foot tall eucalyptus tree will be heard under the “regular order” portion of the agenda as soon after 6 p.m. as feasible, according to City Clerk Martha Anderson. A T-Mobile representative is expected to be present to answer questions.
A notice of the hearing was mailed to every address within 500-foot radius of the proposed project, including to Piero Wemyss, president of the Top of the World Neighborhood Association. Anderson said the agenda and the staff report will be also sent to members of the school board. Top of the World Elementary is adjacent to the fire station.
More than a decade ago, parents at the district’s other elementary, El Morro, also concerned about health issues, brought pressure on the school district to sever a similar contract. A cell tower antenna was later removed from El Morro.
School district officials have yet to weigh in on the issue.
In part, Weymuss’ petition http://stopcelltowerlb.petitionhost. com/ asks elected officials to enact an ordinance prohibiting siting of cell towers or WiFi antennas near schools, public parks, sports parks, homes, hospitals, dry brush areas or any other inappropriate places.
