Glendale City Council will hear AT&T’s appeal to install a 60-foot-tall cell tower at Dunsmore Park
Plans to build a 60-foot-tall cellphone tower and facility in Dunsmore Park are expected to go before the City Council next month after they were rejected by the Planning Commission earlier this year.
Applicant AT&T contends that the planning commission “lacked substantial evidence” to deny the application in June and filed an appeal on the decision in August.
AT&T is again pushing for installation of a wireless facility to be disguised as a pine tree just outside the baseball diamond in Dunsmore Park, which is near Dunsmore Elementary School.
Company officials said they hope to close what they say is a service coverage gap, according to their maps. The city’s wireless administrator for information services backs the coverage claims.
Join the conversation on Facebook >>
Although AT&T’s proposed facility was recommended for approval by city staff, four Planning Commission members turned down the project, citing its “incompatibility” with current uses of Dunsmore Park.
“Having a cell tower adjacent to an active recreation area is blatantly in opposition to what the North Glendale Vision Plan has stated,” said Commissioner Stephanie Landgren at the June hearing.
In its appeal filing, AT&T disputes two claims by the commission — that the tower would interfere with recreational use of the park and that construction would impact the roots of protected Sycamore trees in the area.
AT&T also accuses the commission of unreasonably discriminating against it. Company officials said that the proposed facility is similar to wireless facilities previously approved by the city.
In the appeal, AT&T leans heavily on the city staff’s recommendation in June that states the facility is compatible with the community and alternative configurations are not “reasonably feasible” and would “not increase community compatibility.”
“AT&T’s proposed design is fully consistent with the city’s land-use regulations, and the proposed facility is the least intrusive means by which AT&T can fill the significant service coverage gap in the area,” according to the appeal.
AT&T’s plans for similar wireless facilities on the Crescenta Valley Water District’s water tank on Cloud Avenue as well as at Valley View Elementary School, Clark Magnet High School and St. James Catholic Church were all previously rejected because of either a lack of interest or they were not feasible.
Crescenta Valley resident Mary-Lynne Fisher often visits the park with her husband, she said in a phone interview on Tuesday. She said she’s worried that AT&T is pushing the city to build the tower without sufficiently exhausting efforts to find a more suitable, unobtrusive location as directed by the Planning Commission.
“My hope is that the Glendale City Council will listen to the residents,’ Fisher said. “I hope that they will look at the Planning Commission’s decision, will see how accurately it reflected the situation and will see that AT&T has not done apparently what the Planning Commission suggested they do.”
A public hearing on AT&T’s appeal is expected to be held at 6 p.m. on Dec. 13 in council chambers.
--
Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com
Twitter: @JeffLanda
ALSO
Tobinworld, named for founder’s son, turns 40
New, returning faces elected to Crescenta Valley Town Council
