Granada Hills : Pair Urge Opposition to Cellular Antenna

Citing their concern for the children of a Granada Hills school where a communications company plans to construct a cellular telephone antenna, two residents are urging neighbors to oppose the project at a community meeting Wednesday.

Arline Kaltenbach, who lives a block from Patrick Henry Middle School, where L.A. Cellular has proposed leasing a patch of land for a 62-foot antenna, believes that students’ safety is being sacrificed for profit.

“I just feel they’re being sold out,” she said. “This is, I think, a dangerous precedent. We don’t know for sure these things are safe. Why do we want to take a chance?”

Kaltenbach does not believe enough studies have been conducted to determine whether the electromagnetic fields generated by such equipment are safe.

Suzie Wong, director of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s environmental health and safety branch, says cellular equipment has been installed at other district campuses and the proposed tower at Henry falls well within state guidelines.

On Sunday, Kaltenbach and neighbor Sharon Black wrote a letter they plan to distribute to more than 200 Granada Hills homes asking residents to attend a meeting scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday at the school, located at 17340 San Jose St.

“We hope you feel as we do that we don’t wish to put our children in potential jeopardy,” they wrote.

A public hearing on the matter will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club, 4808 Kester Ave. However, in a notice mailed to residents living near the school, the Los Angeles Office of Zoning Administration noted that “any concerns regarding health risks . . . should be directed to the California Public Utilities Commission and/or the Federal Communications Commission.”