Lack of support signals low chance of cellphone tower going up in Dunsmore Park
A 60-foot-tall cellphone tower likely won’t be installed in Dunsmore Park — across the street from Dunsmore Elementary School — after members of the Planning Commission unanimously spoke against the proposal on Wednesday.
AT&T is looking to erect the tower just outside the La Crescenta park’s baseball diamond, and it will be disguised as a tree, according to a planning staff report.
The pole would be topped with a dozen 8-foot-tall antennas, the report stated.
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Jerry Ambrose, a representative from AT&T, told commissioners the goal of the wireless telecommunication facility is to close a gap in service coverage.
“The intent of this project is to be a community benefit,” he said.
However, all four commissioners disagreed with him and the staff report’s claim that the location of the tower would be “the most compatible solution for the park.”
“I am of the mindset to reject the application because the antenna is not compatible with current uses of the park,” said Commissioner Leonard Manoukian, who said he’s coached AYSO players at Dunsmore Park. “Putting this tower there would impede otherwise normal uses of the park.”
Commissioner Stephanie Landregan agreed with her colleague, saying there’s usually some sort of a buffer, such as a parking lot, between a cellphone tower and a park.
“Having a cell tower adjacent to an active recreation area is blatantly in opposition to what the North Glendale Vision Plan has stated,” she said.
Earlier this year, the Glendale City Council approved a cellphone tower in Fremont Park to be installed at a storage site away from the park’s playground.
Kevin Mottus, an environmental advocate with the California Brain Tumor Assn., said at the meeting that in the Los Angeles Unified School District, cellphone towers are typically placed at least 2,000 feet away from schools.
To that end, Commissioner Greg Astorian said he thought the applicant didn’t work hard enough to find suitable alternative locations.
In the staff report, the Crescenta Valley Water District’s water tank at Cloud Avenue, Valley View Elementary School, Clark Magnet High School and St. James Catholic Church were listed among alternative locations. However, those sites didn’t work out because either officials at those locations expressed no interest in the installation of the proposed cellphone tower or their sites were considered infeasible.
“I am not convinced AT&T [has] looked at all the alternatives and whether or not they’ll be able to get a better place,” Astorian said.
With a number of key La Crescenta agencies, such as the water district and local schools, rejecting cellphone towers on their sites, Rayne Gibney, a teacher at Dunsmore Elementary, said she hoped Glendale officials would make a similar decision.
“Apparently, having a cell tower on any of these properties was not compatible with their view of the community,” she said. “I’m hoping that the city of Glendale, though somewhat removed from the Crescenta Valley, shares their view.”
About a dozen residents spoke against the cellphone tower because of potential health issues linked to concerns about the high-frequency radio waves emitted by the equipment.
However, local governments can only vote on where towers can be erected and whether they are compatible with the surrounding area. Health issues are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
The local commission directed planning staff to return in two weeks with a list of recommendations as to why the plan for a cellphone tower in Dunsmore Park should be rejected.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
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