Tighter rules on cell phone towers?

Article in Queens Chronicle

by Willow Belden, Assistant Editor
05/14/2009

Proposed legislation would require that wireless phone companies alert communities before installing antennas such as these in residential areas. (photo by Michael O’Kane)

All over the city, cell phone towers and antennas are erected on the roofs of buildings in residential neighborhoods, yet community members typically have no say in the matter and oftentimes don’t even find out that the antennas are coming until they’re up. At that point, it’s usually too late to object, as building owners typically enter into multi-decade contracts allowing wireless companies to place the antennas on their roofs.

Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) is trying to put an end to that. Last week, Vallone introduced legislation in the City Council that would require cell phone carriers to inform community members and local elected officials before installing towers or antennas. The bill would also prohibit wireless companies from installing the devices in residential areas unless they had made every possible effort to install them elsewhere.
Vallone said he thinks the manner in which cell antennas are installed in many residential areas is objectionable.

“They’re put up in the middle of the night,” he said, “and they tell [area residents] they’re putting up solar panels or they’re fixing the electricity. They lie to the community.”

So what’s the problem with cell phone antennas? To begin with, many consider them unsightly.

As Astoria resident Evie Hantzopoulos put it, “They are ugly for sure. They certainly don’t contribute to the aesthetics of a building.”

Then there’s the question of health risks. Different studies have come to different conclusions about the risks of living near antennas. Most agree that the level of radiation the antennas produce is minimal — about as much as a microwave oven gives off.

“That may or may not be true,” Vallone said, “but nobody stands in front of a microwave for 24 hours a day, which is basically what you’re doing if a tower is located in front of your bedroom window.”

Vallone and some concerned residents say they’re worried that long-term, low-level exposure could present health risks.

“We want to move prudently until the health effects are known,” Vallone said.

According to the American Cancer Society’s website, cell phone antennas are not likely to cause cancer. But the website also notes that agencies such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – which typically provide findings about carcinogenicity — have not issued findings on wireless towers.

Whatever the risks of living in close proximity to cell antennas, the current discussion isn’t centered around health risks — because it’s not allowed to be.

The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits cities from passing laws regarding cell phone towers based on health concerns. City governments are, however, allowed to legislate antennas for aesthetic reasons or based on concerns about building safety.

Getting the legislation introduced was a three-year process, and Vallone expects to be up against tough opposition as the bill is debated.

“Building owners are opposed to this because they make shovelfulls of money from the phone companies,” Vallone said.

Then there are the phone companies themselves.

“Families are becoming increasingly dependent on wireless communications,” Jane Builder, T-Mobile’s northeast senior manager of external affairs, said in a statement. “More than 20 percent of homes in the U.S. now rely solely on a wireless phone and no longer keep a traditional wireline phone. For this reason and others, T-Mobile is concerned that proposed amendments to the city’s administrative code might unduly slow the development of much-needed improvements to wireless coverage and reliability.”

A spokeswoman for CTIA, an international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, said in a statement that wireless carriers are working hard to keep up with the growing demand for cell phone technology and that CTIA is “wary of any additional hurdles that may needlessly delay carriers’ ability to serve wireless consumers.”

Vallone said he’s not trying to curtail efforts to provide better cell phone coverage; he just wants more care to be taken with regard to the placement of towers.

“We need to know that these decisions are not being based on where [wireless companies] can get the cheapest rent, but where they will be safest to the public,” Vallone said.

The Housing and Buildings Committee in the City Council will hold a hearing about the proposed legislation sometime in the next few months, after which a series of additional hearings will take place.