November 4, 2005

Appeal of a land use decision on Nov. 9

The Planning Commission of the City of San Jose will consider an appeal of a land use decision at a public hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. The address is 200 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose, Calif., 95113.

This is an appeal of the planning director’s decision to approve a planned development permit amendment to allow three pair of wireless communication antennas within a new 45-foot flagpole and a related 252-square-foot equipment storage shed at the 3100 Ruby Ave. fire station.

The radiated power of this cell tower in any direction would be 1,890 watts, representing six channels operating simultaneously at 315 watts each. Peacock Associates, on behalf of Metro PCS Wireless, submitted an application for the subject planned development permit amendment on Dec. 2, 2004.
 
Evergreen resident Susan Li said two public hearings have already been held on Aug. 14 and Sept. 14 because many of the residents didn’t get the notice, and very few of the residents showed up.

“We were not able to influence the city’s decision as much as we would’ve liked,” said Li. “There are several reasons we appeal the placement of this cell tower in this location.”

This includes Li’s concern that the city didn’t consider co-locating the wireless antennas on cell tower sites already in place near this location, as suggested by city policy.

Secondly, Li contends that the storage shed should be considered a utility structure, because it will be used to store equipment for the cell tower and will include a battery backup power generator there. According to the City Zoning Ordinance, utility structures shall maintain a minimum 60-foot setback from the front property line. However, the setback of this storage shed is only 10 feet from the front property line.

And third, the aesthetic appearance of the cell tower is not consistent with the community. “The visual impact of this cell tower will inevitably cause our lovely homes to have a significant drop in value,” said Li.

If you are interested in signing the petition letter or want more information on the health-related links, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/landmark_voice.