City Council puts plan for cellphone tower on hold

The Agoura Hills City Council has put OmniPoint Communications, the parent company of TMobile Wireless, on hold in its efforts to build an unmanned wireless telecommunications facility on the campus of Lindero Canyon Middle School.

The planning commission had approved a conditional-use permit allowing the company to build three cell towers on the school campus. The City Council appealed that decision and on June 10 continued the appeal to Sept. 23.

In the meantime, city officials want the Las Virgenes Unified School District Board of Education to conduct its own public hearing, with expert testimony on the potential health hazards of radio frequency (RF) emissions. Under the Federal Telecommunications Act, the city can debate only the location and appearance of cell towers and not potential health risks.

"The city's hands are somewhat tied in regulating this type of facility," said City Attorney Craig Steele. "Congress has tied the city councils' hands."

T-Mobile representative James Lee said aesthetic concerns have been addressed in the tower design. The company has modified the project from three, 45-foot-high, 18-inch-wide flagpoles to one. Landscaping will screen the ground-mounted equipment.

Lee called the flagpole design "stealth," adding that the 300 feet of separation between the tower and the closest home was enough to comply with the city's laws that prohibit cell towers in residential neighborhoods.

T-Mobile representatives said two alternate locations were explored—St. Paul Lutheran Church on Thousand Oaks Boulevard and light poles at Reyes Adobe and Thousand Oaks Boulevard in the public right of way.

Neither site would provide enough increased coverage for TMobile cellphone users, Lee said. As for appearance, Lee said the flagpole designed for the school campus would blend with the color of school buildings and natural vegetation would screen views from all angles.

Council members weren't convinced that gaps in coverage for Tmobile services exist.

Councilmember Dan Kuperberg asked Lee to provide proof—a survey of customer complaints or some other study that demonstrated a need for additional coverage in the area.

T-Mobile project manager Rob Searcy said in-house studies are conducted "cumulatively" and TMobile's engineering team is always "assessing." He did not produce a document that gave evidence of a gap in coverage.

Kuperberg said an independent study should be required. He added that T-Mobile probably approached the school district because it is exempt from city codes.

"It allows for our type of use," Lee said. All other eligible sites, he said, would require a willing landlord, except for planting towers in the city's "right of way," which would also be close to residential neighborhoods.

"We prefer private property," Searcy said. "We'd be hardpressed to find another location where residents would not be affected," he said.

Councilmember Bill Koehler asked Lee and his colleagues to show the council the map of the geographic area in which a gap in cellphone service has been identified. Lee said they didn't bring the map to the meeting.

Lee admitted the company does not have much motivation to seek out other sites when it already has a contract with the school district.

U.S. provider OmniPoint Communications will pay the school district $60,000 per year for use of the Lindero land for a cell tower. Similar contracts were negotiated at other schools. Agoura and Calabasas high schools have cell towers. Plans are also under way for towers at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas. In all, there are four cell towers in Agoura Hills and two in Calabasas.

T-Mobile agreed to place story poles on the Lindero campus to show residents how tall the tower would be in relation to their homes.

Councilmember John Edelston suggested encouraging the school district to hold a public meeting to hear the issues, including potential health hazards of RF emissions.

In 2000, Los Angeles Unified School District banned cell towers on school properties because of the ongoing debate over radio frequency liabilities. Concern has grown across the country over perceived health issues. However, wireless companies say that the RF emissions are no more harmful than the emissions coming out of radios.