Residents draw line over cell phone towers at Lindero

Agoura Hills residents are continuing the fight to move three cellphone towers at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills to another location—and away from children.

Deborah Lopez lives on Sand Trap Drive near the school campus and says nothing pleases her more than sitting on her porch with the school flags and Ladyface Mountain in the background and watching her children play.

"The view gives me comfort and tranquility," Lopez said. "To have a cellphone tower stuck in there would chip away at the very soul of what Agoura really is."

But the obstruction of views is secondary to what Lopez and other critics consider to be the health issues caused by radio frequency (RF) emissions. By law, the potential health hazards of the towers are not up for debate, only their appearance and location.

Under Agoura Hills zoning laws, cell towers are not allowed in residential neighborhoods except under certain circumstances.

"The district has a long established process going back nearly a decade to promote having cell sites," said Las Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent Donald Zimring. "We began shortly after the 1994 Northridge earthquake trying to attract increased cell service into the district when we realized how tenuous our radio coverage was. The increased cell coverage had the added potential of generating additional revenue to the district."

The first cell tower on school district property was placed at Agoura High School. There are four in Agoura Hills and two in Calabasas. Cell towers are also planned for A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas.

Safety, or the budget?

U.S. provider OmniPoint Communications will pay the district $60,000 per year to operate the Lindero towers.

"Due to continued budget cuts and declining enrollment, our schools have diligently pursued finding additional sources of revenue to be able to sustain the programs we provide to children, and avoid losing more of our highly-acclaimed teaching staff," LVUSD Board of Education President Dave Moorman told The Acorn.

Lopez and others say the extra revenue is not worth the health threat and home value depreciation the cell towers might cause.

"While we are all concerned with unprecedented budget cuts that force the district to think outside the box, three 50-foot towers at our school . . . is not the right answer," Lopez said.

Moorman defended the towers on school property.

"The state doesn't allow local jurisdictions to disallow cellular antennas for reasons of health concerns because this has gone up to the state level and the state determined that there is no evidence of danger as long as the cellular provider puts in an appropriately-licensed system," Moorman said. "The state doesn't want to continue to deal with appeals over these, so in that respect, yes, the city's hands are tied."

But in 2000, Los Angeles Unified School District banned cell towers on school properties because of the ongoing debate over radio frequency liabilities.

Agoura Hills resident Julie Buckley said she has read about a dozen studies about the health risks of RF emissions.

"All of it is really too young to feel safe with," Buckley said. "We won't have enough studies for years."

Open forum?

The school board approved a cell tower contract with OmniPoint in January, but there was no public discussion on the matter.

According to Morman, "To date there has been no testimony or public comments to the board on this issue, and at a May 1 meeting of the PFA/C presidents representing each of the district schools, a discussion on this subject was held and no concerns were raised or opposition stated to either the cell site at Lindero or at any other school."

To which Buckley responded, "It's offensive to me to say no one's complained, no one's objected—clearly when nobody knew."

Residents found out about the cell tower placement only after the Agoura Hills Planning Commission vetted the issue, followed by the City Council's announcement that it would appeal the school's decision.

Moorman said the only appeal that is open to the public is through the city.

"Our responsibility is to ensure that we work within the law, and have done so on every cell site installed," he said. "We also take seriously our responsibility to make our schools look nice, and disguising these cell antennae in flagpoles is a pretty good way to achieve that."

Paul Bromley lives across the street from the middle school.

"My main concern is how many people (these towers) are actually going to serve, and is it worth the time and effort to go through this," Bromley said.

Cell tower opponents will express their discontent at the next school board meeting on May 12. They also plan to attend the City Council appeal that has been postponed until June at the request of OmniPoint.