Ayako Mie/BERKELEY
After more than a year of controversy surrounding placement of cell phone antennas, the Berkeley Planning Commission recommended Wednesday to the city council that only one firm be allowed to install antennas at any one location, and that those antenna frequencies be monitored annually. However, even the proposed changes to the city’s Wireless Ordinance did not please residents at the meeting, who wanted the commission to prohibit installing antennas in areas zoned residential.
Some residents want antennas spread more evenly throughout the city, instead of being clustered in certain areas. They believe the antenna radiation can be harmful to their health.
In June, the Berkeley Zoning Adjustment Board approved a permit to Verizon Wireless to install an additional 10 antennas on the top of the French Hotel on Shattuck Avenue, bringing the total number of antennas within three blocks to 25, creating “ a hot spot”.
“Twenty-five antennas within three blocks? Why can’t we share the radiation with the rest of Berkeley?” said Sarah Jones, a North Berkeley resident.
Residents are worried about the radiation emitted from the antennas, but a federal ruling from 1996 prohibits local governments from denying installation permits to telecommunication companies based on health concerns. Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin said that each antenna emits less radiation than one percent of federal standards. “The residents do not believe this,” she said. She also emphasized that the health concern was not on agenda that night.
Cosin said that the proposed changes would protect the city from the lawsuits from the wireless companies. The recommendations were in response to a 2007 lawsuit, in which Verizon Wireless sued the City of Berkeley in federal court, claiming that the city took too long to approve antenna requests. The city could have fought in court, but it decided to consider revising its ordinance to avoid possible risks of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation.
Although the recommendations also would ban antennas in residential neighborhoods, both T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are planning to install the antennas in densely populated areas, even though they are not zoned residential. “Thirty feet away from the French Hotel are condominiums for single family as well as multiple families,” said Dr. Betty Polston, who lives right behind the French Hotel. “How do you define residential?”
“It is a matter of visual blight,” said commissioner Jim Novaosel, referring to the crowded clusters of antennas in a concentrated area. He suggested the commission send recommendations to the city council so that they could deal with spacing them in a more comprehensive way.
Commissioner Roia Ferrazares took a more sympathetic stance with the residents, citing T-Mobile’s plan to install antennas in one of the apartment buildings on University Avenue. With T-Mobile’s plan, the antennas are installed in a building that stands within the commercial zone, but which face a residential area. “Unless we can strengthen the wording of location antennas themselves,” Ferrazares said, “I am not prepared to pass this.”
The commission members, with the exception of Ferrazares, voted yes on the recommendations. Samuels made sure that the concerns from the public would be included in the recommendation. The city council will vote on the recommendation on January 20th, 2009.
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