I'm writing to share a news story with you that I've not yet seen covered that impacts every resident in the city of Berkeley.
In January I received a notice from AT&T that I live within 500' of proposed cell antennas to be installed at 752 Grizzly Peak Blvd. These antennas would extend the height of this particular utility pole an additional nine feet, and add a couple of large equipment boxes to the pole. I started a Change.org petition that 37 people have signed, expressing our concerns about aesthetics, public safety, and property devaluation at:
I've just this past week discovered that my Berkeley hills neighborhood isn't the only one targeted by AT&T to receive new utility pole cell antennas added, but it seems there are dozens of such proposed pole-top antennas now being proposed in the city of Berkeley. I heard about these plans from fellow Berkeley resident, Hank Reekers. Once such antennas are situated, it's much easier for subsequent telecommunications companies to get their "foot in the door" and also add their own equipment to the poles.
I'm surprised that with so many proposed AT&T cell antennas, the city of Berkeley is not responding to the huge change in the overall look and feel and property valuation of the entire city of Berkeley. Part of the expectation of residential property is that it's not as ugly, not as potentially injurious to human health and wildlife, nor as prone to chemical and electrical fires... nor as likely to lose property valuation (the way commercial properties can when situated in less-than-desirable areas).
While the Telecommunications Act of 1996 doesn't allow a municipality to prohibit the location of cell towers based on adverse health effects, people's fears about the presence of electromagnetic signals do drive down home values. Research shows home values drop 20% on average in cell antenna and tower areas, as prospective home buyers actively seek residential communities with a reduced presence of cell antenna towers.
The city of Berkeley can't afford to sit back and wait for each neighborhood community to respond on its own to each and every proposed antenna site, because it's about to be hit very hard where it can't afford to be hit--squarely in the pocketbook. Hank Reekers informed me that AT&T is proposing 32 new antenna installations, most situated in the Berkeley hills, including the following:
1.) 10 Maryland
2.) 474 Grizzly
3.) 580 Wildcat Canyon
4.) 612 Spruce
5.) 770 Wildcat Canyon
6.) 854 Hilldale
7.) 1030 Creston
8.) 1024 Cragmont
9.) 1151 Grizzly
10.) 2846 Shasta
11.) 1199 Laurel
12.) 50 Del Mar
13.) 151 Fairlawn
14.) 516 Santa Barbara
15.) 904 Bancroft Place
16.) Near 2917 King Street
17.) Dwight & California
18.) Near 899 Grizzly Peak Blvd
19.) Near 2033 Dwight Way
20.) Near 1330 Cedar Street
21.) IFO 1215 Santa Fe Ave
22.) 30 Hill Road
23.) 1063-1065 Sterling
24.) Tunnel Road
25.) IFO 416 Vermont Ave
26.) 752 Grizzly Peak Blvd
More information:
City of Berkeley: Stop the proposed AT&T cell antenna tower near 752 Grizzly Peak Blvd
http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-berkeley-stop-the-proposed-at-t-cell-antenna-tower-near-752-grizzly-peak-blvd
"AT&T Applies to Put 9 Cell Towers in Kensington: the Review Process and What You Can Do" El Cerrito Patch
http://elcerrito.patch.com/blog_posts/att-has-applied-to-put-9-cell-towers-in-kensington-the-review-process-and-what-you-can-do
"A Pushback Against Cell Towers" New York Times
http://nyti.ms/XDcWeb
