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Montecito Planning Commission Calls Out NextG Over Cell-Tower Permits
The Montecito Planning Commission sided unanimously Wednesday with residents opposed to the way several proposed cell-tower sites are moving through the planning process.
It’s a contentious issue that began when residents noticed yellow “notice of development” signs popping up in residential areas across a wide swath of the South Coast.
Cell company NextG wants to put up 39 “node” — or antenna — sites, including 14 in Montecito. Residents have appealed seven of the locations because of their proximity to homes, schools and view corridors.
NextG’s plans would allow for a 26-inch antenna to be installed on an existing utility pole in each of the locations. A 3-foot utility box also would be placed on the pole.
A central issue in Wednesday’s debate centered on the type of permitting the projects have been given.
Permits for this type of project range among four categories. A tier-one permit exists for the smallest projects. Tier four is used for the largest projects and can exceed 50 feet in height.
Because each of the seven locations was treated as a separate project, and not processed as one larger project, the company chose to pursue a tier one permit for each, which would require less scrutiny than a tier four.
NextG is the company applying for the infrastructure, but it would be used by cell company Metro PCS, which currently doesn’t have coverage in the Montecito area.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved stricter cell tower regulations in December, but shied away from enacting a moratorium.
The Federal Communications Commission issued a declaratory ruling in November stating that state and local governments can’t deny an application solely because the service is available from another provider. So, just because Montecito residents get coverage from AT&T or Verizon, for example, doesn’t mean the county can deny NextG’s application for MetroPCS.
The county can deny the projects for aesthetic reasons. But if NextG proves it has a significant gap in its coverage, the county must provide an alternate location for the project, while still filling in that gap.
In the past, Montecito residents who have spoken out on the project have cited health concerns. They’ve argued that the electromagnetic frequencies the devices emit could have health consequences to those who live or go to school near them.
The Federal Communications Act pre-empts the county from prohibiting the antennas based on health concerns, assuming the locations comply with the threshold deemed safe by the FCC.
That point was hardly touched on Wednesday as the residents rallied behind their attorney, Susan Basham, who is representing the group in their appeal.
Instead, Basham focused on the aesthetic implications of the antennas going in, and called reviewing each as an individual project a “piecemeal” approach.
“A tier-one permitting system is designed for a single antenna,” she said. “If you look at those individually, you never get the entire picture.”
The county contends it’s using existing infrastructure — the telephone poles — which they say blend in and don’t add height.
“This is arguably one of the least intrusive designs available,” county planner Megan Lowery said.
Last year, county planners received an application for a 60-foot tower encased in a faux pine tree. Comparatively, she said, the NextG antennas are far more wieldy.
The cable NextG would install has the capacity for five networks, a point not lost on the residents.
Montecito resident Abe Powell showed photos he had taken of an antenna installed by NextG on Picacho Lane. A coil of wires had been left next to the antenna, dangling in the air, and Powell altered the photos to show what various antenna sites would look like with five antennas, instead of one.
“This is visual blight,” he said. “We think that’s unacceptable. ... Every other cell company is going to want to do the same thing.”
NextG representative Patrick Ryan called Powell’s simulation a “misrepresentation” and said the wire coil had been there at the request of the county. “There is no plan to install five different antennas,” he said.
One commissioner asked outright how many carriers a community needs.
“There will be more companies, like Metro PCS, that will come to Montecito,” Ryan said. “We’re very much in the infancy stage of wireless.”
He said NextG is the first carrier to use this smaller equipment, and that his company is often invited into communities as an alternative to larger operations.
Ryan noted that because more people rely on their cell phones, all carriers are submitting applications for residential areas — not just NextG.
The commissioners ultimately took issue with the fact that the company didn’t process it as a tier-four project, which would have allowed the company to talk about alternative sites with nearby residents.
“Common sense says this is a network,” said Commissioner Claire Gottsdanker, recommending that it be permitted as such.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 01.28.10 @ 08:43 AM
How crass that just days after several homeless die in the streets of Santa Barbara these cell-phone addicted Montecitans spend hours opposing 18” coils attached to existing utility lines. Just think of the wasted hours of staff time and county resources their ridiculous protestations will result in. Disgusting.
» on 01.28.10 @ 09:09 AM
“Crass” to be concerned about county land use planning??? What a short-sighted comment. Yes, certainly, sad that there are homeless people, 4,000-6,000 in the County and very sad there are deaths but where’s the connection to the land use planning?
» on 01.28.10 @ 09:14 AM
These spoiled brats need to spend some time in Haiti since they seem to have so much time on their hands.
» on 01.28.10 @ 10:09 AM
The MPC has done a wonderful job over the decades to hamper or destroy many forward-thinking movements, at huge cost to the greater area. (Recently, Coral Casino, Miramar, Coast Village Rd development, (Hwy 1o1), now this). Let them sit and dwell. If it were possible, they would prohibit all antennas, pushing the installation into the SB area, beyond Montecito borders. Just watch what they propose! Not in their backyards. Oh, but they do want the service. Wait and see where all those antenna show up. Your backyard?
» on 01.28.10 @ 10:27 AM
Many of us are within the “unsafe” distance of these antennas - that is my primary concern. Many of the homes, including mine, have small children. Crane, Laguna and MUS are filled with children and all within unsafe distances. These antennas have been banned in Europe, yet they are filling our tiny lanes. Why not the unpopulated foothills on government land???
» on 01.28.10 @ 12:33 PM
Uninformed, scientifically ignorant Luddites.
» on 01.28.10 @ 12:39 PM
To “Health concerns”: Banned in Europe? ALL of Europe? The same Europe that is light years ahead of the US in the manufacture and use of cellphone technology? Please provide a reference source for this rather unbelievable claim.
» on 01.28.10 @ 04:03 PM
Heath Concerns - your microwave emits more radiation than these antennas. I guess you don’t use a phone at all? By using one you are channeling radio waves directly through your brain matter.
The MPC and these people of Montecito are probably the most ridiculous spoiled brat groups I have ever read about.
» on 01.28.10 @ 07:46 PM
People in Montecito need to realize that many people in the county are very jealous of you and would move the city dump to Montecito if they could.
That’s life ..
» on 01.28.10 @ 09:50 PM
As long as the people of Montecito keep pay their large tax bills we should all at least try to be nice to them.
» on 01.29.10 @ 09:00 AM
as a result of the tax dollars they waste making staff jump through hoops and divert from work plan just to satisfy their hypocritical hysteria about “radiofrequencies”. they are nuts.
» on 01.29.10 @ 10:46 AM
Obviously the ones complaining about the antennas were the same ones complaining about spotty coverage or the antennas would not be necessary. We all fear what we don’t understand - these are very low power transmitters - that is the point of Next-G, to increase close range coverage in areas that are hard to reach with larger more distant towers because of terrain. No more danger than actually using a cel phone.
» on 01.29.10 @ 08:13 PM
Ah, but don’t expect the true believers to accept that. They know what they know (in spite of a total lack of scientific knowledge), have too much time on their hands, and will stop at nothing to impede progress. That’s what they do in Montecito.
» on 01.30.10 @ 01:48 PM
Good Grief!! People with money are no smarter than than the poor voodoo believers in Haiti.
We live at the bottom of a sea of electro-magnetic radiation. The largest single source is our Sun. Should we turn it off?
When you tune a receiver in any part of the electro-magnetic spectrum you will find signals. They are ALL “radiation”. Almost every modern convenience generates and/or responds to radiation.
A short list of radiation detectors includes: GPS, TV (cable, satellite, broadcast), wireless anything, Receive only radios (such as AM, FM and TV), Two Way radios (such as aircraft, fire/police, taxis, CB), radar, and x-ray film.
There is also a class of devices that generate radiation as a part of their internal functioning. Have you noticed radio interference from a light dimmer? Check out the second page of any electronic device manual and it will have a warning about possible interference from its use.
Should we abandon the use of all these devices?
The hazards of electro-magnetic signals have been researched all over the globe, with a test group of over a billion people, for over a hundred years. The evidence has been gathered and evaluated. Scientists have proposed maximum safe signal levels based on more information than you or I can imagine.
If you think that you have “Special Knowledge” that is not available to anyone else on the planet, you need to share that with a psychiatrist.
» on 01.30.10 @ 11:03 PM
We have AT&T wireless service in Montecito? News to me.
» on 01.31.10 @ 12:35 PM
Thanks for your post “Electronics Engineer”. I have degrees in EE and Computer Science and thirty years experience in telecommunications. I’ve been trying to reason with the Montecito Luddites for nearly two years on this topic. But like many ignorant true believers they are not swayed by reason, fact, and logic, nor even by ‘all clear’ reports on the American Cancer Society website. The fact that these new nanosites are 1/1000 the power of a standard cell site has no impact on them either. But they LOVE to use their cellphones!
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