Politics & Government

Council Makes Controversial Decision on AT&T Antennas

Threat of lawsuit loomed as council heard appeals by residents.

Palo Alto City Council Members sent a clear signal Monday night to AT&T: it’s time to cut through the static and move forward with expanding cellular service, despite appeals from residents.

More than one hundred Palo Altans packed Council Chambers to speak out on the telecom giant’s plan, with many locals expressing outrage over the technology’s health, noise and visual impacts.

Those concerns were trumped, however, by a majority of supporters, and the will of the Architectural Review Board. The Board to send the plan to the Director of Planning and Community Environment, who approved it.

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Council Member Gail Price, who motioned to uphold the Director’s decision in the face of five filed appeals from residents who live next to proposed antenna sites, said the service is necessary here, in the center of Silicon Valley.

“In Palo Alto we’re very self-conscious about being at the center of the high-tech world,” she said. “By approving this proposal, we’ll be able to better provide the wireless technology that we need.”

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The plan will allow the first 20 of a planned 80 distributed antenna systems (DAS) to be installed atop telephone poles throughout the city. Since AT&T in part owns the poles, and therefore the right-of-way, they are entitled to install technological upgrades as needed, according to state and federal law.

Should the city have fought the plan, AT&T may have filed suit, as they did in San Carlos, where an out-of-court settlement allowed the company to move forward with a similar plan.

Nonetheless, residents put up a spirited charge.

“Our block does not have a coverage problem, and we are not in a dead zone,” said James Riker, one of the appellants. “AT&T should put the antennas where they’re needed and where they’re wanted.”

The other appellants included Paula Rantz, Stacey Bishop, Richard D. and Charlene Maltzman, Sumida Riker, Tench Coxe, and Masao and Eiko Sumida.

John Williams, who lives across the street from one proposed location and is a Verizon customer, said the antenna would affect his property's value.

“If somebody had the choice between living in front of these things and a place where they didn’t’ have to look at it, they’d choose the place where they didn’t have to look at it,” he said.

A slight majority of speakers remained in favor of expanding cell service, however, with one resident—a retired Lockheed engineer—saying the antennas would actually be better for ones health.

“Cell phones get hotter and hotter in your pocket in a weak signal area,” explained Russell Torrey. Without a good signal, he said, phones will increase their power usage to 100 milliwatts as they hunt for signal. With adequate cell phone towers, the power consumption drops to 10 milliwatts, he said—which would be well below the safe limit.

“Cell phone towers are good for your health,” said Torrey, emphatically.

The planned antennas will each be paired with a battery box that will power the antennas in the event of a blackout. The color, placement, and design of these boxes were also subjects of great debate Monday night, but remained part of the approved plan.

The battery units could be helpful in the event of a natural disaster, said Gail Price.

“Emergency preparedness is a primary concern of this council, and this proposal dovetails with that nicely,” she said.

Mayor Yiaway Yeh did not vote on the measure because he recused himself, citing a potential conflict of interest related to a property he leases.


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