Press conference at the site of the T-Mobile installation on Canyon Drive on Oct. 6: Councilmembers Tom LaBonge and Janice Hahn flank Oaks neighbor Sylvia Jacobson, as Oaks booardmember Alexander von Wechmar looks on.

By Alexander von Wechmar

In an effort to expand their coverage area, T-Mobile and Cingular Wireless have erected two new cell phone transmitters along the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Canyon Drive.  Reception of their signals will, however, be limited to Bronson Canyon and not be available in upper hillside areas such as The Oaks.

But that's not the only bad news. Mounted on monstrous 50-foot poles, with ugly antennas on top and unsightly cabinets and pipes attached to them, the new cell sites are true eyesores in our neighborhood.

What is of even greater concern, at least to residents who live in close proximity to these transmitters, is the potentially harmful radiation these cell sites emit:  Continuous exposure to their beams over a long period of time is suspected to cause cancer and memory loss.  Cell phone carriers prefer to dispute that claim but are, nevertheless, reluctant to make any written statements about the safety of their equipment.

Despite these worrisome facts, most cell sites along residential streets such as T-Mobile's new transmitter at 2353 Canyon Drive can be installed without any city permits.  Why?

Cell phone service providers are considered "utilities".  That means that under current law they can choose and access any existing utility pole as long as that pole is located in a public "right-of-way", such as the area next to a sidewalk in front of a home.  If all their equipment can be mounted on one of these poles, no inspection is required by any government agency, not even the notification of City officials, nearby homeowners, or local neighborhood organizations, such as The Oaks Homeowners Association.

Once a transmitter is installed and operational, the law leaves it up to the carrier to monitor the Radio Frequency emissions of that transmitter to make sure that it complies with FCC safety regulations.

As residents are usually not notified or asked for approval before a cell site is erected in front of their homes, families who live close to a transmitter have no choice but to accept that they are exposed to some level of radiation around the clock every day of the year.

Even worse:  As the many cellular companies compete over the best locations for their equipment, residents who live at "strategic locations" - like the homeowners in the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Canyon Drive - end up being surrounded by the cell sites of competing carriers and exposed to multiple doses of continuous radiation.

T-Mobile and Cingular Wireless could have placed their new transmitters at locations outside of our neighborhood and away from any homes, but both carriers did not want to deal with the "red tape" and higher costs they would have incurred at those alternative sites.

Both The Oaks Homeowners Association and the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council have expressed their displeasure with the fact that residents of Bronson Canyon were neither notified in advance nor were their concerns heard prior to construction of the two new cell phone transmitters.  Members of both organizations want to see a stop to the uncontrolled proliferation of cell sites on our residential streets.  They also hope that the City will follow the example of other municipalities, such as the City of Beverly Hills, which have passed ordinances that give city government and residents some influence over the location and appearance of new cell sites, and over the length of time for which a permit is issued.

In response to these complaints and urged by more than 200 residents who have signed a petition opposing the installation of new cell sites on Canyon Drive, Councilmember Tom LaBonge has responded decisively. On October 6, joined by Councilmember Janice Hahn who has received similar complaints from her constituency, Mr. LaBonge introduced a motion in City Council calling for more government oversight, including prior notification and input from community groups, into the placement and appearance of cell phone transmitters on existing utility poles in residential neighborhoods.

The two Councilmembers announced their motion at a morning news conference held at the T-Mobile cell site in front of 2353 Canyon Drive. The media event was attended by approximately fifty residents of our neighborhood and covered by all major radio and tv stations of the city. Further attention to the topic was drawn by a two-page article in the Los Angeles Times which appeared on Friday, October 6th,  the day of the press conference. See this article here.

Photos of the installations on Canyon Drive are available both for T-Mobile and for Cingular.