OPINION: We Do Not Want Cell Towers in Piedmont
Action needed now to protect health and property values.
Fellow Piedmonters – I’m writing today because few Piedmonters know about a terrible situation which could affect a number of children as well as home values.
Two weeks ago I was shocked to learn that a cell company called “Crown Castle” has filed an application to put nine cell sites, each with multiple transmitters right in front of homes and schools in Piedmont.
There are plans ahead to expand this number to 68 sites within Piedmont, in the residential areas.
I’m a retired Aerospace Engineer at UC Berkeley Physics and have published over 30 science papers on Electric and Magnetic Fields. I’ve done the research on the equipment they list and it is clear they are going to bathe the schools and the upper floors of these residences with substantial microwave levels, levels not allowed in any other country.
Since most Piedmonters are here because of the schools, I thought all parents would be shocked at all of this. All homeowners should realize that they face a 20% decrease in their home value if such a cell were nearby. https://www.emfanalysis.com/property-values-declining-cell-towers/
So, PLEASE send an email saying Piedmont Council should vote NO on the application! Address to pmacdonald@piedmont.ca.gov and citycouncil@ci.piedmont.ca.us
AND IN SACRAMENTO WE HAVE A PROBLEM! The California Assembly is going to vote [The bill is SB 649.] this week to allow cell carriers to do all of the above WITHOUT our city’s consent. Call/email Assembly Member Tony Thurmond (Alameda Cty) at (916) 319-2015 https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD15
Best Regards – Peter Harvey and Prudence Ashley
Thank you, Peter & Prudence, for this important information.
SB649 gives the farm away to the Telecommunications Industry. As with the CPUC and PGE, the regulating agencies including the FCC appear to be dominated by the Telecommunications Industry which the agencies are supposed to regulate. SB649 allows Corporations to place equipment in any public right-of-way, without local government control.
SB649 allows cells on a pole in front of your house as large as six cubic feet and equipment boxes in front of your house up to thirty-five cubic feet, that being the equivalent of a large refrigerator. Search “SB649 Legislative Analysis” and click https://www.cacities.org/SB649.
From what I’ve read in recent posts, here and at NextDoor, there are conflicting and confusing conclusions about the possible health effects of cell phone microwave radiation.
What I do know is that the further away one is from a transmitter (either tower or hand-held cell phone), the less radiation you receive. Radiation decreases with the square of the distance. So being nine feet from the tower is 81 times less radiation than being 1 foot from the tower. Therefore, I see little danger from those proposed towers. More danger if you hold a cell phone to your head for many hours a day. That danger can be mitigated with an earphone.
So this whole controversy seems to be nothing more than a NIMBY issue. If the towers provide better cell phone coverage, then let’s do it!