UPDATE For several years now, Crown Castle and the city of Torrance, CA have been unable to agree on cell tower siting. Crown has attempted to revise plans, but picking an available location that can deliver a suitable signal does not provide a wealth of options. As The Daily Breeze reports, objections are lodged by the town every time there is an objection, with local politicians going so far as to suggest convincing Crown Castle to try again in neighboring Gardena.
After further discussion, the Torrance City Council eventually voted 5 -1 in favor of allowing the construction of a cell tower at the selected Redondo Beach Boulevard site. The cell tower will be disguised as a pine tree. Council members said that they understood that the approval was unpopular with many in the community. However, they also noted that if they continued to engage in legal wrangling with Crown Castle, the end result would likely still favor the telecom, costing the city additional money and ultimately giving them less say in the matter.
“If you were to uphold the appeal tonight,” advised attorney Jonathan Kramer of Telecom Law Firm, an outside consulting company hired by the city, “Crown would most likely sue. And the result of that is that if the court found on behalf of Crown, they would get the original site they proposed, not the one in front, so it would be in the back.”
Some neighbors spoke up to express their dissatisfaction with the Council’s decision. The general sentiment noted by The Daily Breeze records that residents believe the cell tower to be a hazard, both because of the RF radiation and because the tower could topple. “The reasons against this ugly cell tower are many,” added Torrence resident Grace Mayeda. “To name a few, it is too close to the residents and to the small businesses who service the young children.”
For its part, Crown Castle issued a statement indicating that they were relieved to have the matter settled. “We have cooperatively worked with the City of Torrance for more than two years to arrive at the best solution to replace the previous wireless tower, which was at the same address for 12 years,” noted Crown Castle External Affairs Manager, Scott Longhurst. “The project complies with all city regulations, is supported by city planning staff and was unanimously approved by the planning commission. Maintaining strong wireless connectivity is essential for first responders and local economic strength and improves the general way of life. The majority of 911 calls are from wireless devices.”
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