Cingular facility passes

Jenny Marder

A set of three antennas and a satellite dish will be attached to an

existing Southern California Edison utility tower at a city park,

despite complaints from nearby residents who fear it will be ugly and

noisy.

Upon hearing the neighbors’ complaints, City Councilwoman Connie

Boardman appealed the Planning Commission’s Jan. 27 approval of the

project.

“I wanted to give the neighbors a chance to speak,” she said.

The wireless facility, proposed by Cingular Wireless, will aid the

company in improving its wireless telephone service in the area.

The facility will be erected on Southern California Edison’s

existing tower at Langenbeck Park. It will consist of 12 antennas, a

2-foot diameter dish and a 10-foot high, 185-square-foot enclosure.

Critics fear the structure would adversely affect the surrounding

neighborhood.

Bernadette Jackson, whose house faces the park, said that upon

moving in, her family installed open fencing so that they could “look

out and see a big expanse of green space.”

“This might just look like a maintenance facility or a public

restroom,” she said. “I have to wonder why I’d want to look out my

window at what looks like a public restroom. ... It’s unfair when

people come to our city, spoil our neighborhood for their own

purposes and go back to their own city and leave us to deal with the

consequences.”

Nearby residents also worry that the facility surrounding the

antennas would become a target for graffiti or a lean-to shelter for

vagrants and would draw maintenance traffic into the park.

Suzanne Gatti, spokeswoman for Cingular Wireless, said that the

project was in compliance with wireless code and with the city.

“With regard to the shelter color, Cingular Wireless is amenable

to painting it any color that the city desires,” she said. “The noise

will operate at a lower level than what the city limits are.”

Gatti couldn’t answer whether the fans would be audible from the

nearby homes.

City Council members Debbie Cook, Jill Hardy and Gil Coerper

opposed the project.

“I really don’t think our parks should be used as perks,” Cook

said. “This is public parks space. This is too close to Measure C.”

Measure C, passed by voters in 1990, requires any development on

county beaches or parkland to be approved by a community vote.

The City Council approved the project on the condition that there

would be no lighting added to the structure and that the shelter

would be covered with vines.