AirTouch Alters Plan for New Antennas

Faced with opposition from doctors and local residents, AirTouch Cellular has withdrawn plans to install 25 microwave antennas on top of a medical office building.

The proposal would have been heard by the Planning Commission tonight, but AirTouch representatives told city officials that they were pulling their permit application for the Rancho Niguel Road office building.

“We’re just trying to cooperate with the city,” AirTouch site manager Larry Levine said. “We just thought it would be better for everyone concerned, the city and residents, if we moved the antennas.”

The company will decide in about two months the feasibility of installing the antennas atop a water tank about 1,000 feet from the medical building.

AirTouch Cellular’s plans had drawn fire from tenants, some of them doctors and medical staff, who were concerned about how rooftop microwave transmissions might have affected their health and sensitive medical equipment.

The commission had asked city staff to hire an independent consultant to assess health risks.

The city plans to schedule a workshop on microwave issues in the next several weeks.

The company was involved in a dispute last year with residents of Baroness Lane, who said the firm deceived the city and homeowners by moving a microwave tower to a more visible location after receiving Planning Commission approval.