City of Tustin Caves to Legal Pressure and Allows Cell Tower Application
See post below for details

Background


Background

T-Mobile and the City of Tustin planned to erect a 65 foot cell phone tower at the back end of the park near the gate to Peters Canyon Elementary school. The proposal received approval from the Tustin Zoning Commission despite vigorous opposition at the public meeting on Wednesday, October 20th. Due in large part to additional opposition raised by local residents in the days following this meeting, and at the request of Tustin City Council Member Doug Davert, the Zoning Commission decision was vacated on October 27th, and a public hearing before the Planning Commission was set for December 14, 2010, to allow for additional public input.

T-Mobile has redesigned the proposed installation to look like 3, 45' tall flag poles located in the parking area of the park. While this is a better design, it will only accommodate their equipment and, if another carrier wants to place an installation in the park additional towers must be built.


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If you would like to contribute to our cause please use paypal to send a donation to savecedargrovepark@gmail.com

EMAIL THE CITY COUNCIL

Let them know you are not happy about this!


EMAIL T-MOBILE

Write an email to Robert Dotson the President of T-Mobile or Jim Ailing the COO.

If you would like to get involved or join our email list please email us at SaveCedarGrovePark@gmail.com.


Our Position

We are not opposed to the use of cell phones and wireless technology, and acknowledge that cell phone coverage in the Peters Canyon area of Tustin Ranch is sub-standard. However, we feel that Cedar Grove Park is no place for a cell tower due to its historic significance, scenic beauty, and close proximity to Peters Canyon Elementary and Pioneer Middle Schools. We also feel that a tower at this location will have a negative impact on property values of homes nearby. Once it is done, it cannot be undone.

Desired Goal

Our goal is to convince the Planning Commission, Tustin City Council, and T-Mobile to consider alternate sites for a cell tower to serve the needs of the Peters Canyon area that will have less negative impact on the neighboring communities.

Many cities around Southern California are in battles with their city officials and T-Mobile, or other cell service providers, due to the proliferation of cell towers in residential neighborhoods. Often the first notice residents have of a tower going up is when the construction crews arrive to start breaking ground. We advocate greater transparency in the selection process of these sites and inclusion of the local residents in the final approval to assure that the best possible site is selected and the negative impacts to the community are minimized.

An alternate location for a cell installation exists just 400 yards from Cedar Grove Park at the Orange County Fire Authority complex on Jamboree Road. Two cell towers have been approved for construction there and Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint have already agreed to place their equipment at this facility. We feel T-Mobile should do the same.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tustin City Council to Make Decision on Oct. 18th, 2011

The Tustin City Council will make what could be the final ruling on the decision to put a T-Mobile cell site in Cedar Grove Park next Tuesday, October 18th, at 7:00 pm.

This decision was postponed at the July 19th City Council meeting in order for the council to consider all of the information they had received from T-Mobile and those opposed to the installation.  At that meeting, Tustin Mayor Jerry Amante asked the City staff to gather specific information to present to all of the council members so that they would be sufficiently informed to make a decision on the cell tower installation.

Specifically, he asked for:


1) Information on line of sight of a cell tower at the OC Fire Authority location,
2) Information on the cell site at the Salvation Army and the light pole T-Mobile location on Tustin Ranch Road in front of the Tustin Golf Course and their coverage,
3) Information on whether the design of the Cedar Grove site meets AT&T’s needs should AT&T take over the site in a merger deal with T-Mobile,
4) A report on the status of AT&T / T-Mobile merger,
5) The council to review a case out of Washington that was provided to them as precedent for this installation,
6) A determination on whether the Cedar Grove site meets the design criteria set by ATS regarding co-location of multiple carriers,
7) A report on the status of the cell tower installation at the OCFA and which cell carriers have agreed to locate there,
8) Information on what effect tree growth around the proposed towers at Cedar Grove would have on the coverage provided by that site.

Councilwoman Gomez also requested additional information on all of the data regarding coverage of the other cell towers in the area.
The report by the city planning staff should be coming out by Friday of this week and a link will be posted to it on this blog when it becomes available.

Please attend the city council meeting next Tuesday to express your opinion on this issue.




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