Neighbors Protest Maple Avenue Cell Phone Tower

Maple Avenue residents are protesting T-Mobile’s plan to build a cell phone tower in their neighborhood, citing health effects from radiation exposure and its potential proximity its .

Eric Beeghly lives directly across the street from the utility pole where T-Mobile wants to install three antennas to improve cell coverage in the area.

Looking out at the power pole from his living room window on a recent afternoon, Beeghly said the telecommunications facility would be too close for comfort, especially for his 1-year-old daughter Elizabeth.

“Sitting here, I am definitely going to feel like I’m sitting in a microwave,” he said. “I don’t want it in my backyard.”

Beeghly started an online petition and has been going door-to-door organizing opposition to the cell tower, which the last November.

Rod De La Rosa, external affairs manager for T-Mobile, said the facility’s radio frequency emissions would be far below exposure standards set by the Federal Communications Commission.

In its application to the city, the cell phone provider said the project would improve in-house cell service between Williams and Donner avenues and Highway 280 and Balboa Way.

“T-Mobile is committed to providing great coverage across the country, including San Bruno,” De La Rosa said.

T-Mobile originally attempted to obtain a lease agreement with Parkside to put the cell tower on its property, but the school district turned down the offer.

Next, T-Mobile applied in March 2010 to install the telecommunication facility on a utility pole adjacent to 1736 Niles Ave., but the Planning Commission denied that application based on aesthetic concerns and the location of the equipment cabinets.

T-Mobile then negotiated a lease with the owners of 413 Maple Ave. to put the equipment cabinet in their backyard and install the antennas on the utility pole in the public right-of-way.

According to the staff report from the November Planning Commission meeting, residents within 300 feet of the project were notified but no comments were received. No residents spoke during the public hearing.

Beeghly said he and many other nearby residents weren’t notified of the public hearing. Plus, he said, notifications go to property owners, not tenants like his family.

Perry Petersen, vice chairman of the Planning Commission, said he didn’t recall this specific permit but that residents should have been noticed.

“What you may have there is a case where someone didn’t pay attention during the review process,” Petersen said.

Virginia Sunday, who lives on Maple Avenue, said she wasn’t aware of the proposal until Beeghly told her.

Sunday said the device isn’t safe for school children and that it would be better suited in a non-residential area.

“Why can’t it be up in an open area on a pole with no homes?” she asked.

T-Mobile did evaluate several other locations, but the company either couldn’t reach a lease deal or the site didn’t provide enough cell phone coverage, the staff report said.

An engineer also reviewed the radio frequency radiation levels and found that the facility would emit a maximum of 330 watts and exposure would be less than 1 percent of the FCC public exposure limit at the ground level and 0.16 percent for second-story residences.

Beeghly doesn’t trust these standards. His petition cites studies that have shown a host of biological effects resulting from low radio frequency exposure.

“According to one such study, it was shown that subjects living near a cell tower experienced increases in headache, memory loss, dizziness, tremors, depressive symptoms, and sleep disturbances,” the petition states.

At last check the petition, which is directed to T-Mobile and FCC officials, had more than 200 signatures.

De La Rosa said T-Mobile has followed all guidelines regulating the project. “It’s our policy to follow all local, state and federal guidelines,” he said. “The site that was eventually approved by the city followed their process.”

 T-Mobile hasn’t yet made a decision on when it will build the cell phone facility, De La Rosa said.

Beeghly said he might stage a sit-in protest if a construction crew shows up.