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Council goes against staff in approving monopole
Phone company promises to donate $30,000 to Fremont High in return
By Jana Seshadri
After a 3-3 vote denying a use permit by the Sunnyvale Planning Commission, an application by Verizon Wireless to install a monopole in the Fremont Union High School grounds was passed by Sunnyvale City Council on March 19 against staff recommendation. The decision came after much discussion and clarification.
The new project, proposed to be located in the middle of Fremont High, will involve a 65-foot pole with six antennae and a 12-foot-by-12-foot structure to house ground equipment, Smith said.
When Councilman Jack Walker asked if Verizon would like to work with staff and explore other site options, Smith responded that in order to cover a void, there needs to be a monopole in the proposed area. Smith said Verizon is experiencing an increased call volume from the school kids, residents and business owners in and around Fremont High and the area is not sufficiently covered by its other antennae.
According to Bill Savidge, director of facilities and modernization for the Fremont Union High School District, Verizon will pay the school $30,000 toward enhancing its athletic program in exchange for allowing the pole to be installed on the campus.
"The funds will enable the school to build outdoor restrooms, which will benefit kids in sports programs," Savidge said.
"Since in this case it will be a new pole, the planning commission had to hear it first," said Robert E. Smith, planner for Crown Castle International, which helped Verizon with site and jurisdictional planning.
Smith said one planning commissioner recused himself from hearing this case because of conflict of interest, so a tie resulted. City staff recommended that the council not approve the application because of aesthetics, planning officer Trudi Ryan said. There are currently nine wireless antennae on the proposed site and the new pole will increase that number to 15, she said.
"The commissioners were also concerned about the aesthetics," Planning Commissioner David Simons said.
"I don't know why the planning commission voted this down," said Margaret Jungling, a Sunnyvale resident. "Nobody else was concerned about the aesthetics except for them."
Frank Kellers, a Verizon customer and a resident of Snowberry Court, which backs into Fremont High, said he supports the project because he would like better wireless reception and would like to use up the remaining nine months of his contract with them and not have to change wireless companies at this point.
Vice Mayor Julia Miller and other council members said they were concerned about the damaging effect that the cumulative frequency could have on residents.
"There will be cumulative effects only if the frequencies are similar," said Russ Bentson, senior radio engineer for Verizon. "All the facilities in the area are relatively low powered, so the cumulative effect will be 1 percent of the national recommendation."
Before council members could vote on the issue, Ryan said that if the monopole, when and if installed, interferes with the traffic signals in the area, then the contract with Verizon would be null and void. Councilwoman Pat Vorreiter suggested that the interference issue should be added to the appeal as a friendly amendment.
Mayor Fred Fowler said it is important to protect city neighborhoods and applauded the planning commission's efforts to do so.
The council unanimously approved the decision.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
