Business & Tech

Solano Ave. Cafe Says It Had No Say in AT&T Antennas

The owner of the Sunny Side Cafe on Solano Avenue said his business is suffering from a false perception that the cafe had a role in approving AT&T cell phone antennas on the building roof. He wasn't consulted and had no say in the decision, he said.

The owner of the Sunny Side Cafe on Solano Avenue wishes his customers to know that he had no say in the decision to place AT&T cell phone antennas on the building housing his restaurant.

The cafe owner, Paul Revenaugh, placed a sign on the restaurant's front door Thursday saying:

"Dear Customers:

"The Sunny Side Cafe has no involvement with any cell phone towers planned for the roof of this building.

"We are merely tenants, and as such, we have absolutely no say in the matter. Thank you for your understanding!"

The controversial installation of 12 AT&T cell phone antennas on the building at 1495 Solano Avenue was approved Sept. 3 by a 3-to-2 vote of the Albany City Council. The council vote upheld approval of the antennas by the city's Planning & Zoning Commission in June.

Revenaugh said the Sunny Side Cafe has received complaints from customers about the antennas following reporting in Patch saying the antennas would be placed on the Sunny Side Cafe. He said the cafe is just one of three commercial spaces in the building that occupy the ground floor and face Solano Avenue. The other two are House of Curries and a space that is currently unoccupied.

He also noted that the approved location for the antennas would not be above his restaurant but above a different part of the building.

He said the decision to allow the antennas on the building roof was made by the landlord and that he, Revenaugh, wasn't consulted. The building is owned by Randall and Catherine Bodhaine of Pleasant Hill, according to city staff reports on the antennas.

Patch has asked the landlord for comment.

"I, and apparently many others, have noticed that you’ve exclusively used my business name to describe the location of the proposed towers," Revenaugh said in an email to Patch Thursday.

"Since you started writing about the issue, I have had customers increasingly complain to me and my staff about the cell tower proposal," he said. "And now, Albany parents are approaching my wife – a Marin school teacher – about it too!

"... I know that my business is suffering from this ordeal, and I would appreciate your help resolving it. I’m hoping you will post an article on Albany and Berkeley Patch clarifying the situation for the local readers."

It's true that several Patch stories referred to the antennas as being placed on the Sunny Side Cafe.

At the same time, city staff reports – beginning before the Patch reporting – also have referred to the antennas being proposed on the cafe. The staff report submitted for the April 24 planning commission meeting says, "The applicant submitted an application request for a new roof-mounted wireless facility at 1495 Solano Ave., on the roof-top of Sunnyside Café." An accompanying map in the staff report also identifies the Sunny Side Cafe and neither of the other commercial spaces.

Some of the communications to the city from residents also identified the installation as being on the Sunny Side Cafe, and a blog posted on Patch by Heike Abeck stressed the connection to the cafe: "Cell Phone Antennas on Albany’s 1st Green restaurant: Conflict of Interest Involved."

The Journal newspaper and other papers in the Bay Area News Group, which includes the West County Times, also have described the antennas as being on the cafe.

The Patch reporting reflected a prevailing shorthand way of referring to the installation that would make the location easily recognizable to readers. The Sunny Side Cafe was singled out probably because it is a well-known community business and has a more prominent location on the corner with windows facing both Solano and Curtis Street.

In any case, we acknowledge in retrospect that our referring to the antennas as being "on the Sunny Side Cafe" was unfortunate and not the optimum choice. We wish readers to understand that the antennas were approved for the rooftop of a building that houses not only the cafe but two other street-level commercial spaces.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here