Saratoga News

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Company is suggesting flagpoles in an effort to disguise cell towers

By Jason Sweeney

Wireless companies and their customers need cell towers to provide seamless wireless coverage. Neighbors do not want cell towers near their homes. Disguising cell towers as pine trees or flagpoles is an attempt at finding a solution to the conflict.

Last August, the Sprint-Nextel corporation applied to install a 50-foot artificial redwood "monopine" cell tower at the Church of the Ascension in Saratoga. Significant opposition from neighbors convinced the Saratoga Planning Commission to send Sprint-Nextel back to the drawing board. Neighbors had made it clear that they did not want a giant, artificial tree visible from their homes.

On April 12, representatives from Sprint-Nextel were back before the commission with a new plan for towers on the church property. At a study session in council chambers, the planning commission sought input from wireless company representatives and from neighbors of the proposed tower site.

Instead of a monopine tower, Sprint-Nextel proposed the installation of three flagpoles housing wireless antennas. The city had previously approved a flagpole housing a Metro PCS antenna at the Saratoga Library.

The flagpole towers proposed for the Church of the Ascension would be 40 feet high and 14 inches in diameter, and would fly flags of the United States, the state of California and Santa Clara County. The church would be paid $2,000 a month for the use of its property, and Sprint-Nextel would be able to fill gaps in its wireless coverage.

Several neighbors, not placated by the flagpoles, spoke against the proposal. The aesthetics of the poles and their thickness was one issue, as were concerns over emissions from the antennas.

Neighbor Hui Lui said although the flagpoles were an aesthetic improvement over the monopine, his concerns were health issues and home values. He said federal studies might have determined wireless tower emissions are safe, but other studies point to health risks. "No one can prove the health risks, but if someday they do then definitely nobody will want to buy a house near that tower. The towers are emitting 24 hours a day, and the signal is much more powerful than just a cellular phone. The risk of being near a tower may or may not be high. But the uncertainty makes people worry. If risk is proved, it could have negative impact on home values."

Lui said a friend was looking into purchasing a home in his neighborhood but changed his mind after learning about the proposed towers.

"We worry that if Nextel puts a tower there, other vendors might put towers in, too," Lui said. "The psychological impact on the neighbors is really bad."

Commissioner Susie Nagpal said because the Federal Communications Commission has determined wireless emissions do not pose a health risk, concerns about safety could not be a factor in the commission's decision. "Neighbors are against the flagpoles," she said. "We asked Nextel to look at other sites and to take a hard look at design."