There probably won
’t be any new cell towers in the city of Morgan Hill for quite
some time, if council members follow the advice of Utilities and
Environment subcommittee. The subcommittee will recommend that
council members approve a moratorium on new cell phone towers.
There probably won’t be any new cell towers in the city of Morgan Hill for quite some time, if council members follow the advice of Utilities and Environment subcommittee.
The subcommittee will recommend that council members approve a moratorium on new cell phone towers.
The subcommittee wants to stop all new towers while the city creates a policy dictating where they can be built. In addition to the city’s support, the committee will also ask Santa Clara County to consider a cell phone moratorium on the outskirts of the city while the county formulates its own policy on the issue.
City Councilman Mark Grzan, the chairperson of the subcommittee, said the issue first arose when local residents learned Sprint PCS wanted to install a cell phone tower near their homes in Jackson park last month, after reading a legal notice in the Morgan Hill Times. Residents of the neighborhood quickly mobilized and peppered City Hall with phone calls and e-mails to stop the tower proposal.
“I received many e-mails and residents expressed their concern regarding the proposal,” said Grzan.
The subcommittee then asked interim city attorney Dan Siegel to outline the process of establishing the moratorium.
Grzan said there are some concerns the public has regarding health hazards created by cell phone towers. Though the hazards have never been proven, he wanted to give city staff adequate time to research the issue.
“Is there a placement threat? I think there is,” Grzan said. “The threat is more that we don’t know for sure.”
Grzan also said he wanted to put residents at ease and let them know that the city is doing something about their concerns.
Grzan indicated Gilroy has a cell phone placement policy and he would like staff to study that city’s ordinance.
Currently, a proposal to place a cell tower on public land requires a cell phone provider to enter a lease agreement with the city and city council approval, Program Administrator Tony Eulo said. A proposal to place a cell phone tower on private land, however, would only need a conditional use permit and approval by the Planning Commission. Such a proposal would only go to the city council if it is appealed.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy, who is a member of the subcommittee, along with Director of Public Works Jim Ashcraft, raised the question regarding the possibility that once the moratorium is in place within the city limits, there would be a possibility that cell phone companies would bypass the city and establish towers right outside the city’s boundaries.
“We need to engage with the county to extend (the moratorium) to areas outside the city limits, but within the city’s sphere of influence,” he said. “We need to reach out to the county and ask them to consider it as well.”
The subcommittee will also recommend to the council that city staff prepare a draft for a cell phone policy as soon as possible.
