Calabasas cellphone permit is dropped
T-Mobile tower draws angry response
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TOUGH CELL- Residents are protesting a proposed T-Mobile cell tower to be built at Paul Revere Drive and Bon Homme Road near the Mulwood area of Calabasas. Shown here, an existing Sprint tower on a light pole at Paul Revere at Pickney Drive.

After about two and a half hours of discussion at its March 8 meeting, the Calabasas planning commission was still not sure how to respond to residents' concerns about a cellphone tower targeted for the Mulwood area. No decision was made, and the hearing was continued.

Just days later, permits for the project were dropped after a technical error in the plans was discovered by city staff, Calabasas community development director Maureen Tamuri said. For the time being, no tower will be constructed.

In August, city planners received an application to build a TMobile cell tower at Paul Revere Drive and Bon Homme Road. Tamuri approved the plans at a hearing Jan. 10.

Resident Sol Zide filed an appeal a week later and sent out 1,500 mailers to Calabasas residents who had a vested interest in the commission's March 8 meeting. Mostly angry residents attended the meeting.

"If they're allowed to put their stuff there, we are going to have AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and everybody else deciding that they should to be able to put their stuff there too," said L.J. Pope. "We are going to have a congestion of poles. Why don't we just make them into flag poles and have the United Nations there- that'd be the best thing for us."

Most comments were in response to the appearance of another tower on Paul Revere Drive and the equipment boxes that came along with it. Paul Greenberg, who's lived in Calabasas for 47 years, resides across the street from the Sprint tower which was regularly pointed to as an example of poor aesthetics, maintenance and planning.

"I'm the one that lives across from that abomination," Greenberg said. "(Sprint) said they would make it look okay- they lied. We have no reason to believe that T-Mobile won't do the same thing. You have to protect us, because you are our city. You have a chance to stop it."

According to Charnel McCall of SureSite Consulting, the company that designed the tower for T-Mobile, the equipment could not be placed underground and would need to be in a public rightof-way.

In 1998, the City Council acknowledged there are aesthetic issues with cellphone towers and developed a 24-point checklist. The proposed T-Mobile tower complied with them all.

A street sign would be expanded to a 35foottall "monopole," which would be manufactured by the same company that creates poles for the Southern California Edison Co.

Michael Klein, an associate city planner for Calabasas, argued that the monopole is the least offensive option, citing photos of other towers in the city.

Klein also said the T-Mobile equipment boxes would be hidden by a wall approximately 4 feet high. The wall, however, would back up to resident Taryn Rudow's wall, which was just raised to 8 feet to keep coyotes out of her yard.

"I just built it higher because of coyotes, and now you are building a smaller wall on the other side so coyotes, or anyone, can hop up into my yard," Rudow said. "That security is now being compromised. You need to protect the interests of property owners, which in this case is me."

SureSite's McCall said TMobile would be willing to raise the wall, remove it or even put spikes on it.

Aside from security and appearance matters, some expressed concern over the unknown hazards of radiation.

"All cell towers emit an uncontrolled exposure of radiation," said resident Joan Eisenstark. "The more insidious worry for me is duration, and this tower will be operating 24 hours a day. To assume an outside radiation energy field has no effect on a body, especially a child's growing body, would be naive for our commissioners to risk the chance for compromised immune systems, nervous systems, tumor growth and cancer."

Of the 11 residents who spoke, only one voiced support for the tower.

"We seem to have a very antiquated cable system in our area," said Michael Baron. "I'm tired of living in a technological backwater. I'd like my cellphone to work in my house and on my way to my house. I'm probably the only voice here for this, but I don't have a problem with it; I would like to see it go in."

With so many angry nays and just one confident aye, the commissioners seemed lost in the middle.

After several questions about alternatives were turned down by McCall, Martha Scott Fritz recommended putting off a decision until more information was collected. The commissioners decided they would ask the city's Communications and Technology Commission and the Public Safety Commission to make recommendations.

"We should wait to make a decision on this," Fritz said. "I've heard at least five or more reasons why we can't change this design that seemed flawed to me. I don't think enough has gone into this thought process as to where it could go or what we could do with this."

The motion to delay a decision passed 4-1. Rick Schumacher said he felt he had enough information to make a decision, but respected the commission's desire for more time. Applause broke out when Schumacher confirmed that he would have voted to uphold Zide's appeal.

But more information won't be required. According to Tamuri, a letter was emailed to SureSite informing them that the project wouldn't be approved because of a "technial issue" regarding the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District." The original design would conflict with the underground water system, Tamuri said.

Although the residents won this battle, Tamuri said she expects SureSite will come back with another plan that addresses the water district's concerns.

"I'm happy the residents' concerns were able to be heard, and we look forward to working with (TMobile and SureSite) on a project a little more conducive to the residents' needs," Tamuri said.