Janine Marnien
LA CRESCENTA -- The Crescenta Valley Town Council has adopted a
community standards policy for cell phone towers and has agreed to write
a letter in support of a proposed tower on Cloud Avenue, assuming the
tower meets those standards.
The policy was unanimously approved at Thursday's council meeting, and
will be sent to the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Department for
approval.
The council wants the policy to be in place in time for a May hearing
about the Nextel tower, council President Danette Erickson said.
The council began work on the policy as a response to Nextel's
proposal for a 72-foot cell phone tower disguised as a pine tree at 4441
Cloud Ave., across the street from Cloud Preschool.
The policy is modeled after similar policies in La Canada Flintridge
and Glendale.
"We want our standards to resemble the neighboring cities,"
Councilwoman Sharon Raghavachary said. "If La Crescenta is anything less,
it becomes the go-to place for cell phone towers."
If approved by the county, the policy will require that wireless
communications providers meet several standards to have a facility
constructed in the community. Wireless facilities include cell phone
towers and antennas.
Under the policy, providers must check their facilities annually to
make sure they meet emission standards set by the Federal Communications
Commission. Facilities must be as camouflaged as possible, and designed
to prevent people from climbing on them or vandalizing them.
Facilities must be maintained by the provider, and if a provider goes
out of business, they must remove their facility. Facilities must also be
constructed at least 50 feet away from all residential property.
A Nextel representative present at the meeting said the company would
agree to abide by the standards if their request for a cell phone tower
on Cloud Avenue was granted.
