Averill Woods Neighbhorhood Association
Neighbors living and working together on the southwest side of Lansing, MI
Join your neighbors at 2513 Skye Rd. for cell tower construction news conference
PLEASE NOTE:
You and your family are invited to this important neighborhood news conference
Lansing friends and supporters,
If anyone can come out to join our cause we would appreciate it! If Lansing City Council grants permission for this special land use for a cell tower in the Averill and Lewton Rich neighborhoods, then it can start to happen in more neighborhoods. We think there are better solutions as proposed by our research team.
Please join us Saturday (9-29) for the media rally in our neighborhood. We’ll have refreshments at the rally. City Council members have told us that they need to see a visible show of community support against this so we’d appreciate having your faces in our photos.
Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested. Thanks, Melissa Quon Huber, VP Averill Woods Neighborhood Association.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What: News Conference. This will show how close the tower will be to nearby homes and school and to stress the importance of the city having a master plan for cell phone construction. This is in anticipation of Lansing City Council Public Hearing Monday October 1, 7:00 p.m.
Who: Two young moms who have organized the city's southwest side neighborhoods to oppose construction of a cell phone tower right next to their houses.
When: 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 29, 2007
Where: 2513 Skye, Lansing
Contact: Ann Kostin McGill 230-4787 - annckmcgill@hotmail.com
Melissa Quon Huber, 394-3996, hubermel@msu.edu
LOCAL MOTHERS HELP RESIDENTS FIGHT TO KEEP CELL TOWER OUT OF SCHOOL NEIGHBORHOOD
Lansing, Michigan (September 27, 2007)
On Saturday, September 29th at 2:00 p.m., Lansing neighbors are going to rally at 2513 Skye Road to defeat a giant.
Lansing resident and mother of two small children, Ann Kostin-McGill, was shocked to learn of T-mobile’s request to build a huge 120 foot cell tower in her quiet neighborhood, right next to her back yard on Skye Road and adjacent to an elementary school.
Upon hearing this, McGill immediately went to work doing research and talking with neighbors about their views on the cell tower. And soon, members of surrounding neighborhoods joined in the effort.
McGill contacted another neighborhood mother with small children, Melissa Quon Huber, Vice President of the Averill Wood Neighborhood Association and a research psychologist at MSU. Dr. Huber agreed to alert neighbors to the proposed cell tower for further discussion.
Neighbors were particularly concerned about keeping children away from the cell tower which has been a problem elsewhere in non-residential areas. So the potential for children to access this tower was of critical concern since the proposed site was in a readily accessible residential area next to an elementary school.
Members of the Averill Wood Neighborhood Association, which borders the proposed cell tower site, voted unanimously to recommend that the Lansing City Council deny the special land use request.
The majority of residents at the Lewton-Rich Neighborhood Association meet, which contains the proposed cell tower site, were opposed to the special land use as well.
A team of researchers from the Averill Wood Neighborhood was formed to gather more information. The team, spearheaded by McGill, mapped locations of current towers, researched safety issues, examined local policies, and audited the documents linked to the special land use request.
The team learned that the special land use request had already been through at least one phase of approval. A reason cited for the approval was that FCC regulations did not allow cities to do much to prevent the placement of cell towers in their community.
Averill Wood research team member and local attorney, Steven Dunnings observed that “FCC regulations give local governing authorities discretion concerning placement of towers. However, the current special land use application and review process is highly subjective. The present city ordinance 1282.02 &.03 grants rather vague and almost undefinable conditions and power to determine standards to approve a request for a special use for any range of purposes. This shows we need a clearly defined review process and master plan for cell tower development.”
Huber agrees that “we need a master plan for cell tower infrastructure. We have a wonderful opportunity to grow our technology infrastructure to support business development, public safety functions, as well as for educational and personal use. We just want to make sure it is planned growth that is consistent with our quality of life. We want Lansing stakeholders to be in the driver’s seat and not the cell phone companies. Without a cell phone master plan in place, we’re not even in the car.”
“We’re not NIMBY’s [not in my back yard],” said McGill. “We all depend on cell phones and we need to have adequate coverage. But there are a number of ways to construct towers to minimize their impact on neighborhoods. We just need to have a plan. There are a number of alternatives that we can pursue. We can have a win-win situation for the cell phone companies and Lansing residents.”
The research team noted that such alternative examples exist. Other communities have found effective ways to reduce their cell tower eyesores by utilizing rooftop towers and by working very hard to co-locate [to have multiple cell phone companies use the same towers].
“Putting more of the towers on rooftops would keep them up out of the reach of children and out of the residential areas” emphasized McGill. “We have very few of our towers on rooftops at this point. Most all towards are giant monopole structures.”
“We’ve learned from other communities” noted Ken Jones, Averill Wood research team member. “We don’t want to end up like a nearby community with two giant towers standing side by side instead of sharing the same tower. That happened because it was more advantageous for the cell phone companies and there was nothing in place to prevent the companies from doing it.”
Dunnings noted that positive examples can be seen elsewhere. “One example is the Technology Planning Toolkit developed by Oakland County. It is a resource for us in developing our long term plan. And it provides an example of to build the local technology infrastructure with local technology companies. It creates a thriving environment for business and more jobs in the process.”
In addition to asking Lansing City Council to deny this special land use request SLU-2-2007, the research team has also asked Lansing City Council to consider a brief moratorium on cell tower development until citizens and city officials can adopt a cell tower master plan.
The Averill Wood research team has suggested that the cell tower master plan address these questions, among others, in a comprehensive manner, instead of a case-by-case basis:
What are the definable and objective standards to consider with regard to where a tower can be placed?
What criteria are used to identify the need for a tower and what standards are used to identify that need?
What oversight measures are in place to review the validity of the applicants’ propagation and frequency coverage of the proposed towers?
What oversight is provided to address remediation for drainage issues by the applicant?
Should the Fire Marshall and/or Drain Commissioner actually have to sign off on the plan, rather than just provide comments, to prevent unsafe conditions such as access roads that are too narrow or not strong enough to accommodate a fire truck?
Can we require the applicant to pay for associated costs, such as drainage remediation, building and maintenance of access roads and should they be entitled to tax abatements?
What areas of the city should be off limits to cell towers due to possible transmission interference with other signals?
Are there any processes to review advances in technology which would allow more transmission panels on a single tower as opposed to building new ones?
Is there any review process to determine that placement of transmission panels on existing towers is as effective as building a new one?
Wes Thorp, blogmaster for the Averill Wood Neighborhood Association says, “We need to have more discussion about this. Come join the conversation at http://averillwoodsneighbors.ning.com.”
The Lansing City Council has scheduled a public hearing on SLU-2-2007 for Monday, October 1, 2007, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Tenth Floor, Lansing City Hall, 124 West Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan, for the purpose of opposing and/or approving the proposed Special Land Use, SLU-2-2007, 3215 W. Mt. Hope Avenue, cell phone tower in a “DM-1” Residential District.
###
You and your family are invited to this important neighborhood news conference
Lansing friends and supporters,
If anyone can come out to join our cause we would appreciate it! If Lansing City Council grants permission for this special land use for a cell tower in the Averill and Lewton Rich neighborhoods, then it can start to happen in more neighborhoods. We think there are better solutions as proposed by our research team.
Please join us Saturday (9-29) for the media rally in our neighborhood. We’ll have refreshments at the rally. City Council members have told us that they need to see a visible show of community support against this so we’d appreciate having your faces in our photos.
Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested. Thanks, Melissa Quon Huber, VP Averill Woods Neighborhood Association.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What: News Conference. This will show how close the tower will be to nearby homes and school and to stress the importance of the city having a master plan for cell phone construction. This is in anticipation of Lansing City Council Public Hearing Monday October 1, 7:00 p.m.
Who: Two young moms who have organized the city's southwest side neighborhoods to oppose construction of a cell phone tower right next to their houses.
When: 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 29, 2007
Where: 2513 Skye, Lansing
Contact: Ann Kostin McGill 230-4787 - annckmcgill@hotmail.com
Melissa Quon Huber, 394-3996, hubermel@msu.edu
LOCAL MOTHERS HELP RESIDENTS FIGHT TO KEEP CELL TOWER OUT OF SCHOOL NEIGHBORHOOD
Lansing, Michigan (September 27, 2007)
On Saturday, September 29th at 2:00 p.m., Lansing neighbors are going to rally at 2513 Skye Road to defeat a giant.
Lansing resident and mother of two small children, Ann Kostin-McGill, was shocked to learn of T-mobile’s request to build a huge 120 foot cell tower in her quiet neighborhood, right next to her back yard on Skye Road and adjacent to an elementary school.
Upon hearing this, McGill immediately went to work doing research and talking with neighbors about their views on the cell tower. And soon, members of surrounding neighborhoods joined in the effort.
McGill contacted another neighborhood mother with small children, Melissa Quon Huber, Vice President of the Averill Wood Neighborhood Association and a research psychologist at MSU. Dr. Huber agreed to alert neighbors to the proposed cell tower for further discussion.
Neighbors were particularly concerned about keeping children away from the cell tower which has been a problem elsewhere in non-residential areas. So the potential for children to access this tower was of critical concern since the proposed site was in a readily accessible residential area next to an elementary school.
Members of the Averill Wood Neighborhood Association, which borders the proposed cell tower site, voted unanimously to recommend that the Lansing City Council deny the special land use request.
The majority of residents at the Lewton-Rich Neighborhood Association meet, which contains the proposed cell tower site, were opposed to the special land use as well.
A team of researchers from the Averill Wood Neighborhood was formed to gather more information. The team, spearheaded by McGill, mapped locations of current towers, researched safety issues, examined local policies, and audited the documents linked to the special land use request.
The team learned that the special land use request had already been through at least one phase of approval. A reason cited for the approval was that FCC regulations did not allow cities to do much to prevent the placement of cell towers in their community.
Averill Wood research team member and local attorney, Steven Dunnings observed that “FCC regulations give local governing authorities discretion concerning placement of towers. However, the current special land use application and review process is highly subjective. The present city ordinance 1282.02 &.03 grants rather vague and almost undefinable conditions and power to determine standards to approve a request for a special use for any range of purposes. This shows we need a clearly defined review process and master plan for cell tower development.”
Huber agrees that “we need a master plan for cell tower infrastructure. We have a wonderful opportunity to grow our technology infrastructure to support business development, public safety functions, as well as for educational and personal use. We just want to make sure it is planned growth that is consistent with our quality of life. We want Lansing stakeholders to be in the driver’s seat and not the cell phone companies. Without a cell phone master plan in place, we’re not even in the car.”
“We’re not NIMBY’s [not in my back yard],” said McGill. “We all depend on cell phones and we need to have adequate coverage. But there are a number of ways to construct towers to minimize their impact on neighborhoods. We just need to have a plan. There are a number of alternatives that we can pursue. We can have a win-win situation for the cell phone companies and Lansing residents.”
The research team noted that such alternative examples exist. Other communities have found effective ways to reduce their cell tower eyesores by utilizing rooftop towers and by working very hard to co-locate [to have multiple cell phone companies use the same towers].
“Putting more of the towers on rooftops would keep them up out of the reach of children and out of the residential areas” emphasized McGill. “We have very few of our towers on rooftops at this point. Most all towards are giant monopole structures.”
“We’ve learned from other communities” noted Ken Jones, Averill Wood research team member. “We don’t want to end up like a nearby community with two giant towers standing side by side instead of sharing the same tower. That happened because it was more advantageous for the cell phone companies and there was nothing in place to prevent the companies from doing it.”
Dunnings noted that positive examples can be seen elsewhere. “One example is the Technology Planning Toolkit developed by Oakland County. It is a resource for us in developing our long term plan. And it provides an example of to build the local technology infrastructure with local technology companies. It creates a thriving environment for business and more jobs in the process.”
In addition to asking Lansing City Council to deny this special land use request SLU-2-2007, the research team has also asked Lansing City Council to consider a brief moratorium on cell tower development until citizens and city officials can adopt a cell tower master plan.
The Averill Wood research team has suggested that the cell tower master plan address these questions, among others, in a comprehensive manner, instead of a case-by-case basis:
What are the definable and objective standards to consider with regard to where a tower can be placed?
What criteria are used to identify the need for a tower and what standards are used to identify that need?
What oversight measures are in place to review the validity of the applicants’ propagation and frequency coverage of the proposed towers?
What oversight is provided to address remediation for drainage issues by the applicant?
Should the Fire Marshall and/or Drain Commissioner actually have to sign off on the plan, rather than just provide comments, to prevent unsafe conditions such as access roads that are too narrow or not strong enough to accommodate a fire truck?
Can we require the applicant to pay for associated costs, such as drainage remediation, building and maintenance of access roads and should they be entitled to tax abatements?
What areas of the city should be off limits to cell towers due to possible transmission interference with other signals?
Are there any processes to review advances in technology which would allow more transmission panels on a single tower as opposed to building new ones?
Is there any review process to determine that placement of transmission panels on existing towers is as effective as building a new one?
Wes Thorp, blogmaster for the Averill Wood Neighborhood Association says, “We need to have more discussion about this. Come join the conversation at http://averillwoodsneighbors.ning.com.”
The Lansing City Council has scheduled a public hearing on SLU-2-2007 for Monday, October 1, 2007, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Tenth Floor, Lansing City Hall, 124 West Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan, for the purpose of opposing and/or approving the proposed Special Land Use, SLU-2-2007, 3215 W. Mt. Hope Avenue, cell phone tower in a “DM-1” Residential District.
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