EDC planners deny South Shore cell tower
El Dorado County planning commissioners denied the request by Cingular Wireless/AT&T to erect a cell tower on the south side of Skyline Drive about one mile northeast of the intersection of Highway 50 and Pioneer Trail on the South Shore.
Residents in the area had voiced concerns about the tower. Because of all the houses the commissioners said no.
The applicant could appeal the Dec. 11 decision.
The proposal was for a 113-foot monopine tower with nine panel antennas, equipment shelter, related ground equipment, HVAC units, sound barrier walls, and solid wood fence.
In April 2007, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency denied a similar application.
“TRPA would have to approve the tower. That could be done at the hearings officer level – but back in 2007 it got elevated to the Governing Board and voted down,” TRPA spokesman Tom Lotshaw told Lake Tahoe News.
At that time it was a Verizon proposal. Minutes from the TRPA meeting show residents were concerned about health and safety issues, similar to what was voiced before the Dec. 11 county meeting in Placerville.
Prior to the county meeting Cingular Wireless/AT&T was working on an application with TRPA, but nothing had been submitted.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
NIMBYs. They all get ticked if they can’t get a signal, but don’t put that tower in THEIR neighborhood!
Put a tower in MY neighborhood…PLEASE!
Okay, I just this afternoon drove back from Southern California and I agree that some of the towers, most notably, at Adelanto and just north of Bridgeport, are kind of silly representations of trees. But, i-phone sitting in my drink holder, they don’t exactly get me worked up, and I at least appreciate the attempt, realizing that this is technology that will be long gone before, or perhaps simultaneous to when, I achieve the same status.
Still, amid all the other health and safety issues with which I’m bombarded, what, precisely, is being claimed against these towers? And what is the response of the folks who are actually suspected of being knowledgeable regarding the topic. Knowledge driven opinions are, from time to time, useful. If rare.
If we live near, or often drive by a cell phone tower, will our flu vaccinations kill us more quickly? I mean, that seems as reasonable a question as any, since I haven’t yet gotten my annual stick. Who knows what danger lurks . . . . . ?
http://www.naturalnews.com/040905_cell_phone_towers_radiation_cancer.html
We need dedicated signal free zones as studies are showing that the mass amount of signals in urban areas are driving birds and butterflies away. In my opinion, we will soon find out that the beehive abandonment is from signal pollution. It is probably affecting bats,too. People wake up, please.
Perry, Thomas Edison had the same horror stories over a hundred years ago if our country standardized on 60 cycle AC. One Brazilian study proves nothing, absolutely nothing.
Guess what, none of the horrors happened and you get to enjoy the benefits of electricity every day.
” none of the horrors happened ”
This comment does not speak to just cell phones, but rising cancer rates certainly point to potential environmental factors that are all but impossible to single out….whether it’s synthetic chemicals or electromagnetic waves, humans are exposed to tons of stuff that they did not evolve with and I am sure in the future we are going to find that a bunch of it will turn out to be similar to what the Romans faced with lead in their pipes. It is peculiar to me that we have a society that requires proving things dangerous, rather than proving them safe. I am sure we can thank the almighty dollar for that.
Perry
Interestingly this is a copy of the first comment attached to the article you linked.
This is ridiculous and irresponsible. Cell phones and cell phone towers emit radiation from BELOW the visible spectrum – ergo LOW ENERGY, long wavelength and – here’s the important part, NON-IONIZING RADIATION! It’s impossible for it to cause cancer. Maybe do a little research and read something. Something published by a physicist perhaps? Rather than believing everything you read period.
Correlation does not equal causation.
Rising cancer rates? Are you sure? Diagnostics today are far superior to what they were 100 years ago. Better than 50 years ago.
People have always died. They didn’t used to go to such great lengths to determine the causes. They just died. Old age? chances are pretty good it was some sort of cancer. Or heart disease. Or whatever. . .
None of us gets out of here alive.
Right choice or wrong choice – democracy in action.
I’ll take it.
We need an additional Verizon tower to cover the Meyers area. I can send and receive text messages but not phone calls. Total bummer.
Gus, how is that democracy? Did you get to vote on it? Was it REALLY a majority decision? Or was it just a few loudmouths who complained to the board, and they decided to deny a person the right to use their own private property as they wanted to?
How nice it was when cell phones didnt exist and people could go for 5 minutes without looking to see if someone missed them.
Mama: I’m in Meyers with Verizon and have zero problems with text or calls since the tower on Pioneer was installed. You might want to get a limited land line.
For all I direct you to the rather detailed review by the American Cancer Society webpage regarding cell phone use and cancer – and i paraphrase, at the moment, there does not appear to be one.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/cellular-phones
And Dog, while I agree that the Sups should have supported the application; we have a represented government and the Sups (whether you like it or not) represent us in our democratic choices. So even when I disagree with the outcome (as I do here), it still is the appropriate form of government.
Rick
The house next door to the proposed cell tower already has a tower on it. It is the red light you can see at the western end of the ridge.
Several years ago there was a proposal raise the height of the existing tower to allow more antennas on it. That idea was stopped by the TRPA.
If more towers are needed they should be spread out and not congregated in one place.
There are lots of towers in SLT. Check it out at: http://www.cellreception.com/towers/towers.php?city=south%20lake%20tahoe&state_abr=ca Let all the “neighbors” know their brains are already getting cooked.
PS Rob5, most towers only provide service for one carrier, unless there is a co-location agreement with multiple carriers. Edited to add also, the more carriers on a pole, the higher the cancer causing emissions.
I am not worried about cancer causing emissions. But I do object to the visual pollution being concentrated in one area. The towers should be spread out.
If companies cannot share, the government should make them. We don’t need a proliferation of towers serving only one carrier.
The cell phone has become an indespendible piece of emergency equipment. God forbid someone can’t reach emergency services because there is no cell service within the populated areas of south shore. I support cell service and towers for full coverage in South Shore.
If you’ve ever skied or wandered around “Mt. Rose Ski Area” and the summit, be apprised:
(1) that’s actually Slide Mountain, next to Mt. Rose; and, (2) Slide Mountain has nearly 100 FCC-licensed radio/TV/public service transmitters which are radiating a total of almost 1-million watts of RF energy upon your little body, 24-hours daily.
So…do you glow at night? If not, then don’t worry about a miniscule-power cell tower in your neighborhood.
Its so sad that some of the south shore locals and the TRPA won’t get their heads out of their —–. The cell reception in Meyers sucks and needs to be improved. Im assuming this tower would be improved and made more esthetically appealing to the eye than the current red and white tower that is already there. People we need to embrace technology its a beautiful thing. I bet the cell companies would of IMPROVED what is already there and made it look more clean, but we won’t know because it was shot down. These people that deny these propositions are probably the people that complain about their cell reception not working.