Residents signal concern over cell antennas





The Agoura Hills Planning Commission approved the installation of an unmanned wireless telecommunication facility on Clareton Drive. AT&T Wireless requested a conditional use permit to locate 12 cell phone antennas on the roof oan existing industrial park.

But some residents are concerned about how the radio frequency emissions from the wireless installations could affect human health.

Alan Stahl, owner of Tutor Time, a Clareton preschool, told the commission that he feared the emissions are especially dangerous to children.

Stahl requested that the installation be placed farther north, but to no avail because AT&T is a public utility that is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, which precludes state or local interference with wireless cell installation.

The public utilities project also is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

“I want you to be aware that this is a concern,” said Jack Dwyer, a concerned resident from Thousand Oaks.

According to a city staff report, the FCC relies upon standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a nonprofit, privately funded organization.

The latest ANSI standards allow a maximum exposure level of radio frequency emissions of 1,000 microwatts per square centimeter.

J. Daniel Fox, a spokesperson for AT&T, said that each of the proposed antennas will emit 250 watts of energy at a power density of less than one microwatt per centimetersquared, which is below federal standards.

Planning Commissioner Bill Koehler suggested obtaining periodic reporting from the FCC to make sure that all telecommunication facilities in the city are in compliance with federal regulations.

“We must follow the FCC standards unless scientific data is shown that the standards are faulty,” Koehler said.

Agoura Hills has approximately 35 cell phone-related antennas.



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