A new tree is coming to the Palisades Highlands: the ‘monopine.’ If it doesn’t sound familiar, it will be easy to spot. It is 22 feet four inches tall, has 60 boughs and 12 antennas. It breathes watts and exhales radio waves. Cell phones love them. Neighbors don’t. Last week, the Department of City Planning’s Office of Zoning Administration approved T-Mobile USA, Inc.’s application to install the cell-phone tower on vacant land owned by Headland Property Associates behind dozens of homes in the Highlands. Many residents in the Summit and Enclave homeowners associations opposed the plan. And more than a dozen sent letters or attended a public hearing in March, expressing their fears of the 2,000-megaHertz tower. ‘I know the dangers,’ said Lynne Henney, a Summit resident whose research on cell-phone tower radiation’s carcinogenic properties has given her reason to fear effects on her health. ‘And I don’t want that type of thing near my house. Now I feel like I should sleep with a lead blanket over me.’ Henney and like-minded neighbors also say that the cell-phone tower disguised as a pine tree will not blend into the vacant and treeless lot, which is also at a trailhead off West Via la Costa. Not all neighbors opposed the plan, however. Highlands residents like Paul Glasgall, who spoke in support of the tower at the hearing, were encouraged by the decision. Glasgall, chairman of the Highlands Presidents Council, represents the 17 homeowners associations there. He says the tower could provide residents an extra form of communication in case of an emergency. ‘I think it’s a great step forward,’ Glasgall said on Tuesday. ‘It’s a plus. There’s nothing more annoying than having a dropped call. You can’t stand in the way of progress.’ But a long-discussed land swap plan between the property’s current owner and the Summit Club Homeowners Association could jeopardize installation of the tower. Ed Miller, an Enclave resident who manages the property for Headland Property Associates, had plans to transfer the property to the Summit this year. Headland would gain a tax benefit and Summit residents would gain new property to use as they saw fit. But Summit residents say that Miller never disclosed his plans to place a cell tower on the property. Plus, they say that the company Miller manages might reap a windfall from T-Mobile before transferring the property to the Summit Club. ‘Summit homeowners don’t want one person to benefit at their expense,’ said Rebecca Wade, director of the Summit Club, who has received many calls from residents. Currently unknown to board members is whether Miller has completed negotiations with T-Mobile. On Monday, Wade said that the club will accept the property only if it is ‘free and clear,’ meaning the property is not encumbered by third-party agreements. ‘The only hope now is to press Ed Miller to back off,’ Henney said, ‘He’s the only one that can kill the deal.’ The Palisadian-Post could not reach Ed Miller. Federal and state laws have tightly restricted cities’ ability to reject cell-phone company’s applications to install towers. In fact, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 bars local governments from prohibiting a tower for environmental effects, which includes health concerns. Cities have fought back the only way they can: often by requiring aesthetic conformity. According to the permit written by Zoning Administrator Larry Friedman, T-Mobile must use a landscape professional ‘who has expertise in working with local California natural plants found in the immediate area of the site’ to create a landscape ‘buffer area to soften the visual impact of the tower.’ Friedman also mandated that graffiti on the site must be removed within 24 hours of its occurrence and that the facility be regularly cleaned of trash and debris. ‘It looks like the city heard people’s concerns about aesthetics,’ said Arthur Zussman, president of the Enclave Homeowners Association. ‘But a pine tree will still look kind of funny’there are no pines here.’ ———– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.
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