Telecommunications giant AT&T will host a workshop meeting about wireless facilities in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, December 4 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. The workshop’s announcement comes several months after numerous residents expressed major opposition to a proposed 40-ft. cell tower at 302 Mount Holyoke. Neighbors were first alerted to AT&T’s plans for the tower because of a required notice posted at the location. Residents and AT&T representatives gathered at a meeting of the Pacific Palisades Community Council on two occasions to discuss the issue. During the meetings, it became apparent that residents vehemently opposed the proposed cell tower location. As a result, AT&T agreed to hold a community workshop to better address residents’ concerns. Yet, many residents expressed their opposition to any proposed cell tower location in the Via de las Olas bluffs area, which is a popular scenic overlook between Friends Street and Mt. Holyoke, often frequented by neighbors who enjoy watching the sunset and walking their dogs. Regardless of the neighbors’ concerns, AT&T representatives told the Palisadian-Post they felt the community at large desires better cell service in the area and said they would present all the facts at a future community workshop. The workshop announcement also included the unveiling of a Web site(att.com/wireless4pacificpalisades). The site includes pages such as ‘Why Care,’ ‘Take Action,’ ‘Community’ and more. On the ‘Take Action’ page, the site’s visitors are encouraged to ‘tell the Los Angeles City Council’ that they want ‘better and faster’wireless coverage’in Pacific Palisades. Wireless providers are ready to bring you faster and more reliable service. But first the City Council needs to hear from you.’ The page also contains a letter template that visitors can sign their name to and send to City Council members, whose e-mails are also listed on the site. Also, to make the process seem less robotic, the template changes to different wording every time a Web site visitor refreshes the page. Here is a sample of one the electronic letters: ‘I write in support of improving wireless networks throughout Pacific Palisades and the surrounding communities. Residents and businesses throughout the area, including me, need to have a stronger, more reliable wireless network with fewer dropped calls. In a community like Pacific Palisades, improved cell phone connectivity is absolutely essential to keep us connected. Please support and adopt a wireless ordinance that helps the cell phone companies improve their networks so that we may have reliable wireless coverage.’ The last line of the letter referencing ‘a wireless ordinance’ is illuminating, considering that on September 11, the L.A. City Council’after hearing from Pacific Palisades residents and with the Community Council’s support’authorized the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending the city’s municipal code regulating the placement of telecommunication towers and equipment. ’The people of Palisades are sophisticated enough to understand that this workshop is part of AT&T’s PR strategy,’ said Trevor Neilson, a Palisades resident who started a petition to stop the cell tower. The new regulations would amend the city’s ordinance regulating Above Ground Facilities (AGF) and would require cell phone companies to obtain permits before placing wireless technology in public right of ways. The ordinance would also give the City the ability to exercise greater control over the placement of cell towers and their aesthetics, according to city documents. The new regulations were strongly supported by the PPCC, especially by the body’s Vice President Chris Spitz, who helped the ordinance move up the City’s bureaucratic ranks. However, it’s unclear when the ordinance will be drafted. As a result, some community members have expressed concern that the process could take too long, leading to an increase in cell tower proliferation in the City, or worse’lead to an overturning of the yet-to-be-drafted ordinance. ’AT&T didn’t like the result of the last meeting at the library’when the Community Council unanimously opposed their plans,’ Neilson said. ‘So now they want to schedule their own meeting’but our friends and neighbors in Palisades won’t be fooled by their plan.’
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