Updated September 3, 2010: This site is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox web browser. This website aims to provide information on the proposed T-Mobile cell tower base station on Burbank Water & Power property at Brace Canyon recreational park in the hillside community of Burbank, CA, including why this proposed project should be denied, and what actions you can take to get our City officials to say "No." It also includes updates about the revised wireless facility ordinance in progress. This website also offers information that may be helpful to residents in other communities opposing a proposed cell tower near their homes, schools and parks. Read on! Protect Our Neighborhood and Loved Ones Say “No” to the proposed T-Mobile Cell phone antenna in our neighborhood! On Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, our City Council adopted interim revisions to our wireless facility ordinance that were approved by the Planning Board at its July 26th public hearing. Good progress...but our revised comprehensive wireless ordinance is still in the works and won't be ready for review and approval until later this year...before that, our City plans to organize a community meeting seeking resident input, recommendations, concerns, etc...we need to make sure there's a tiered approach protecting sensitive areas (our homes, schools and parks with proper setbacks) and regulations addressing proposed wireless facilities for our public rights of way....and after the revised ordinance is approved, City Council will then decide on the proposed Brace Canyon cell tower project....! Thanks for your continued support and interest on these matters that affect our families, properties, neighborhoods and community. The interim regulations were the first item on City Council's August 31, 2010, Agenda. Go here to see the agenda, and scroll down to Item #1: ZONE TEXT AMENDMENT...at: http://burbank.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=6&event_id=27. Also read the Staff Report, Exhibits, and Ordinance with Exhibits. To watch video of the meeting go here: http://www.ci.burbank.ca.us/index.aspx?page=633. Burbank ACTION residents submitted our letter of support and recommendations about the need to address our concerns about wireless facilities in public rights of way; read it here. Previously, on July 26, 2010, our Planning Board public hearing approved the first set of proposed ordinance revisions. Addressing the problem our ordinance had of allowing first wireless facilities by right (and any subsequent modifications or additions would require a Conditional Use Permit), our ordinance will now require that all wireless facilities require CUPs. Assistant Planner Amanda Klotzsche also presented the Supplemental Application Form that requires an FCC RF compliance report, significant gap information, and proper screening. Planning Board members hailed all of these measures and materials presented by Ms. Klotzcshe as a "giant leap" forward. At the July 26th meeting, your fellow Burbank residents Kiku Lani Iwata and Michelle Safarian spoke up. Ms. Iwata spoke about a Resident Report submitted by Burbank ACTION, including a video of a resident cell phone survey done in and around the Brace Canyon park to show we already have adequate coverage (click the play arrows, in the YouTube boxes to your right, to view parts 1 and 2). Ms. Safarian showed Board Members a wireless booster that cell phone companies offer to boost in-home coverage so that those wanting more RF cell phone coverage in their own home can do so without exposing those of us who don't. AT&T's rep, meanwhile, urged the City not "rush" to approve the interim ordinance regulations and instead wait until the comprehensive ordinance is presented. Click the July 26, 2010 "Update" in the column to your right for more info on how to watch the public hearing, or click here. It should be noted that at the July 26th meeting, Planning Board Chair Emily Gabel-Luddy said she hopes the City will have the option to not see wireless facilities in the multi-family residential zones. (See page 14 from the "Exhibits" for notes about her comment.) Sitting in the audience, we nodded our head in agreement, and we encourage you to e-mail our City Council and City Manager (see contact info below) to affirm your agreement with her concern and point, too. The proposed revisions approved by the Planning Board will now go before the City Council on Tuesday, August 31, for final approval. We'll write some info on that meeting as we learn more about it. In the meantime, Burbank still lacks any ordinance regulations to prevent wireless facilities in public rights of way (PROW, i.e., our sidewalks and alleys around our homes) from being installed right next to your home, schools, and parks, so we residents must continue to request and push for that. It's not impossible. San Francisco is currently drafting a strong new ordinance to address PROW installations due to resident concerns there. In the fall, the Planning Department hopes to organize a Community Meeting for our input on what we'd like the new ordinance ton include. Meanwhile, the Planning Department continues to work on the more comprehensive ordinance revisions and hopes to present that to City Council and the Planning Board for approval in December. So keep coming back here to read updated info on these events. What You Can Do: Please write/e-mail our Honorable Mayor, City Council and City Manager (and cc Amanda Klotzsche in Planning, see all of their contact info below) and ask them to propose strong regulations for wireless facility installations in PROW like other cities, in particular San Francisco, are doing. Current status of proposed Brace Canyon park cell tower project. When we e-mailed Burbank Deputy City Planner Michael Forbes about this, he promptly updated us (May 17, 2010): "The City Manager’s office has directed that no new leases for cell facilities on City property be brought forward for City Council consideration until an updated wireless ordinance is brought forward. Therefore, the application for Brace Park is on hold until the wireless ordinance is updated or at least until we have direction from Council on what the new ordinance will entail." Action you can take: Keep your communication going with our Mayor, City Council, BWP, the City Manager, and the Planning Department. Send them more letters and e-mails to let them know we still care about what's going to happen with the proposed Brace Canyon park cell tower project: we still oppose it, and want their support to deny it. (See below for reasons you can suggest to them to deny the proposed cell tower.) What about a cell tower at St. Francis Xavier Church? On Dec. 8, 2009, Mr. Forbes informed City Council that a wireless company (we later found out it's T-Mobile) has filed an application with the city, asking the city to change its ordinance so that wireless facilities can be installed on private institutional (private church and school) properties in R-1 zones. For instance, at St. Francis Xavier school/church right next to Horace Mann Children's Center in our R-1 hillside residential community. T-Mobile reps in Nov. 2009 told hillside residents that St. Francis Xavier would be an alternative site to the Brace Canyon park location. This is not a solution or acceptable alternative location. Action you can take: Please ask our city officials to deny this application requesting a change of our wireless ordinance like this. Also ask St. Francis Xavier's Pastor Richard Albarano and. Dir. of Business Administration Rita Recker to not accept an offer to install a cell tower on their property. See below for contact information. A new cell tower at University and Bel Aire? There have been reports that wireless industry reps are interested in installing a cell tower at the corner of University Avenue and Bel Aire Drive, another residential neighborhood of Burbank. Action you can take: Write to City officials telling them you oppose this idea and why (see below for contact info and possible reasons you can state in your communication). More problems: Do you want cell towers installed on our utility and telephone poles next to your homes? Burbank currently lacks an ordinance for wireless (cell phone and WiMax) installations in public rights of way (or PROW, that is, on public sidewalks and alleys next to our homes and and utility poles right behind our homes). In other cities that lack an ordinance for these types of installations, residents are outraged to suddenly find cell towers installed on telephone poles or utility poles right outside their window or home without being notified, and without a public hearing or means of appeal. For instance, these cell towers on poles are now appearing all over Los Angeles neighborhoods because L.A. City Council has failed to update its wireless ordinance despite mounting pleas from its residents. Would you like this ugly monstrosity appearing right next to your home; see this photo of cell phone structure in Brentwood along a scenic route section of Sunset Boulevard (installed in a public right of way, without notifying residents): http://sunroomdesk.com/2010/05/19/objections-piling-up-at-la-city-hall-asnew-cell-sites-proliferate-without-notice/ In April 2010, Clearwire reps told Burbank's Planning Board members that it was starting deployment in Los Angeles County, and our Board members approved two proposed installations. Clearwire typically sets up WiMax (Wi-Fi) installations, as many as hundreds in a given a city, and that includes public rights of way. Clearwire is in the market of selling wireless internet service (for portable computers) and wireless home phone service, and many residents in Portland, OR, and Blaine, MN, are upset to see these installations or hear their "refrigerator box" units next to their homes. (Go to Noise and Nuisance page to read more about Clearwire in these communities.) Should we ask Clearwire how many other facilities does it plan to install in Burbank and where? Do you want one of these noisy units next to your home? Action you can take: Ask our Mayor, City Council and Planning Department to set up a permitting process that involves resident notification, public hearings, a tiered approach and preferred locations for proposed PROW installations -- and sufficient setback requirements similar to what Glendale and other cities are now doing to protect their residents. Also ask them to hold off on allowing any of these types of installations in residential neighborhoods until Burbank's updated wireless ordinance is in place. (See below for e-mail addresses of city officials.) Updating our city's wireless facility ordinance. Hurray to the City of Burbank for making history on Dec. 8, 2009, by joining a growing list of communities that have decided to revise or update their wireless ordinances. Kudos to our City officials and staff, the Burbank Leader, and especially so many concerned parents and residents for communicating your concerns to our City officials to make this happen. Special thanks also to resident groups, leaders, scientists, engineers, and organizations in Glendale, Pacific Palisades, San Pedro, Windsor Hills, San Francisco, Sebastopol, Bolinas, Santa Rosa, Seattle, New York, Arizona, Florida, and Vermont, who have shared information and resources to help our resident effort. Many thanks also to our Parks, Recreation and Community Services Board -- in its Dec. 10, 2009, meeting, they discussed the Brace Canyon proposed cell tower and were not pleased with this idea or the adverse effects it would have on our neighborhood. Please read the Minutes from the meeting: http://www.ci.burbank.ca.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=4941, and scroll down to "Item 2. T-Mobile Wireless Antenna." Action you can take: Write to our Parks, Recreation and Community Services Board and thank them for their support and encourage them to continue to oppose the proposed Brace Canyon cell tower project, and request rigorous setbacks from our City's park properties. Please e-mail your thanks and requests to Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director Christopher Daste at cdaste@ci.burbank.ca.us, and ask him to share them with our PRCS Board members: Chairperson Steven Ferguson, Vice-Chairperson Michael G. DePalo, Secretary Garen V. Yegparian, and Todd A. Layfer, and Whit Prouty. (The Board meets every second Thursday of each month.) Coming up: Community Meeting for residents to provide recommendations and concerns. Our Mayor, City Council and Planning Board Members and city staff recently held its second Joint Study Session on Wireless Facilities on June, 14, 2010. They discussed the regulations and issues surrounding wireless facilities in general with the help of outside attorney and consultant Jonathan Kramer. They also made positive recommendations to their staff to pursue in order to make our City's ordinance stronger. City staff is still working on the updated ordinance, and another Study Session or public hearing will ensue that will address specific recommendations to adopt. However, City leaders and staff did not bring up the current loophole of not having regulations protecting residential neighborhoods from wireless facility installations in public rights of way (or PROW, as mentioned above, on the sidewalk or alley right outside your home, so one could go up without any notification, public hearing or means of appeal). At the end of the meeting, Deputy City Planner Michael Forbes recommended a community meeting in advance of the next public hearing, and our leaders approved it. We will post any details we receive about this meeting on this website. In the meantime, please read the "UPDATES: June 14, 2010 Study Session" link in the top right column of this Home Page for more details about the Session and the progress made on Monday. Action you can take: Attend the upcoming Community Meeting, and e-mail our City leaders (below) to provide your comments and recommendations about keeping cell towers, including those on utility poles and in public rights of way, away from our homes, schools and parks. Tell them we need a PROW wireless facility ordinance, as well as a ordinance that will have preferred and non-preferred locations (a tiered approach, similar to Glendale's). At the first Study Session on Wireless Facilities (Dec. 8, 2009), City officials showed their concerns for the community by favoring the idea of setting up preferred and non-preferred areas like other cities are doing, protecting its residents as much as it can within the full extent of the law, and involving more community input. It's such a welcome step in the right direction. We're hoping and trusting that City Council will also take this new direction into consideration when studying the proposed T-Mobile Cell Tower project on BWP property at Brace Canyon, and deny the proposed cell tower project or find a more suitable location for it. Remember, here's what you can do to help!  Protect our hillside homes, park, schools, church and community. Burbank Water & Power Department is proposing a T-Mobile 35-foot cell tower with 12 antennas on it...the facility would be located at Brace Canyon recreational park...right near our homes, schools, church and families. T-Mobile says its other option is St. Francis Xavier Church, right next to Horace Mann school. In fact, there's a pending application with the city to allow cell towers on private church and school properties. This is why we need to take action now:
If we don't take action now, this tower will also start a precedent and more of them will appear in our neighborhoods, parks and next to schools. The wireless industry says it wants the FCC to give it more spectrum and needs to install more cell towers and antennas. In addition, new and emerging internet service providers and wireless technologies like 4G, and WiMax will require yet more towers and antennas. And then there are future wireless technologies. T-Mobile says its next generation of cell towers and antennas will be on the lamp posts in front of our homes. What kind of future are we creating for ourselves and our children? You can also say "No" by helping us gather effective community support:
And once it's up, what's to prevent the addition of more antennas? Just look what happened to the cell tower with 12 antenna on it next to Burbank's Jordan Middle School. On July 27, 2009, the city approved adding 3 more antenna plus other wireless equipment. Parents and the school district were not notified about the tower's installation, nor the addition of more wireless equipment. We need to tell BWP and our City Council that they don't need the $1,800 a month lease money from T-Mobile, and BWP should not get into the wireless tower business near homes, schools and parks. They will lose community standing and the public perception of them as a forward, sustainable, green and clean service provider: "We are happy to report that we have one of the most stellar reputations in the United States for providing safe and reliable services," says their website regarding their relationship with the community. Supporting wireless towers in our neighborhoods, parks and near schools is not providing us with a safe service. The Los Angeles School Board in May 2009 passed a resolution declaring it doesn't want wireless antennas in or near its schools for safety and health reasons. Nations abroad are pulling them out near their schools. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, meanwhile, passed a resolution asking for a revision or repeal of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that prevents local governments from raising health concerns when considering cell tower applications. So has Glendale City Council, Agoura Hills City Council, Santa Barbara Co. Board of Supervisors, Albany (CA) City Council, Sebastopol (CA) City Council, the City and County of San Francisco, Portland (OR) City Council, Santa Fe (NM) Governing Body, and the Pima (AZ) Co. Board of Supervisors. Now it's time for BWP and the City of Burbank to do the same -- the right thing, and oppose the proposed cell tower lease at Brace Canon park, in accordance with a revised ordinance that would preserve and protect our cherished residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, property values, and loved ones. WEBSITE:
www.BurbankACTION.com (Burbank Against Cell Towers In Our Neighborhood) or www.NoCellTowerInOurNeighborhood.com It should be
noted that Planning Board Chair Emily Gabel-Luddy did say that she hopes
the City will have the option to not see wireless facilities in the
multi-family residential zones. (See page 14 from the "Exhibits".) Sitting in the audience, we nodded our head in agreement! |