Residents already displeased with cell towers popping up in neighborhoods, recently found out, by accident at a council meeting, that a church might be the next site for telecommunications infrastructure, reported the Los Angeles Daily News. According to resident Jennifer Knopp, “No one told us about it. No one has done any outreach.”
The project proposed by Verizon is a 33-foot tall tower disguised as a fake eucalyptus tree, to be placed at Sunland Neighborhood Church. Residents are concerned about the potential health effects of radiation, reported the Daily News. However, a spokeswoman for Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez said that, “local jurisdiction cannot regulate the placement of a telecom facility on the basis of environmental effects of radio frequency emissions.”
The reason for additional towers popping up, according to Heidi Flato, spokeswoman for Verizon, is that the carrier has seen “a dramatic increase in voice and data traffic on our network. We only expect that trend to increase. To support the growing demand, it’s often necessary to build new wireless facilities [cell sites] where customers want and need to use our service.”
Flato added, “We work with local jurisdictions to ensure all applicable federal, state and local regulations are followed.”
Knopp commented on the project, “I think they’re going to win in the end because they say if you want a cell phone, you need towers.”
April 18, 2018
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