No Cell Tower at Palo Alto Little League Field
- by: Neighbors of Palo Alto
- recipient: City of Palo Alto Planning Department, Palo Alto City Council, Verizon Wireless, and Palo Alto Little League Board
We Oppose the New 65’ Cell Tower at Little League Ballpark
Verizon Wireless is proposing a new 65’ cell tower at the Palo Alto Little League Ballpark located at 3672 Middlefield Road. It has faced neighbors’ strong resistance over the last 4 years.
Neighbors’ Arguments Against the Proposed Towers
Once established, cell towers are no longer subject to Palo Alto City Code/Ordinances/Control: Per the fcc.gov site, typical cell towers can be up to 200 feet tall. Today’s 65 feet cell tower can grow to much higher and uglier.
Property value erosion: Peer reviewed studies (email if you’d like them forwarded to you) show 20% lower property values near such huge towers. With all property values being based in large part on neighborhood “comps,” the ripple effect negatively impacts property values well beyond those that can “see” the tower.
Defacing A 60+ Year Old Historical Property: The ballpark was the first Little League field in the County. Established in the early 1950s, it was formally deemed by the City of Palo Alto as potentially eligible as a California Historic Resources site in 1998.
Safety: The Ballpark is the neighborhood hub for kids and all Palo Alto Little League ball players. It is immediately adjacent to Mitchell Park, the new Mitchell Park Library and Community Center, and Covenant Children’s Center. This is not a place to add a top-heavy, 65’ tall (initially), 24” diameter tower, plus electrical equipment sheds, and hydrogen fuel cell batteries.
Failure of Wireless Co to demonstrate need/exhaust all other locations: Verizon has the best coverage of any carrier in this particular neighborhood. According to its own website, they have 100% coverage at this location.
Nuisance/Invasion of Privacy, Lack of Fit with Residential Neighborhood: Such an installation would involve regular industrial maintenance truck incursions. The air conditioning unit and radios emit a droning sound 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Dangerous Approval Precedent to set for R-1 neighborhoods: Approving these towers in this R-1 zoned neighborhood surrounded by homes, schools, and public parks would set a dangerous precedent which could lead the City to ignore its own R-1 zoning and put such towers anywhere they deemed finacially advantagious.
R-1 Property and Neighborhood Is Incompatible with 65’ Commercial Cell tower: The Ballpark is three acres zoned as Single Family Residential. Little League of Palo Alto was given the opportunity to re-zone as a Public Facility Zone instead of R1 but declined the opportunity.
Palo Alto Little League Out of Compliance: The Ballpark is currently zoned as R-1 and operates under a variance as a ballpark. It also operates lights in the evening under a variance for the height of the light poles and a Conditional Use Permit from Palo Alto, which it is in violation of. Before PALL receives a further CUP for a cell tower, it needs to be compliant with the one it has.
Aesthetically Destructive: A 65 foot celltower (potentially much taller in the near future) in plain sight above nearby locations,, with a 9.5 foot tall 440 square foot chainlink-ringed structure.
We Oppose the New 65’ Cell Tower at Little League Ballpark
We Oppose the New 65’ Cell Tower at Little League Ballpark
Verizon Wireless is proposing a new 65’ cell tower at the Palo Alto Little League Ballpark located at 3672 Middlefield Road. It has faced neighbors’ strong resistance over the last 4 years.
Neighbors’ Arguments Against the Proposed Towers
Once established, cell towers are no longer subject to Palo Alto City Code/Ordinances/Control: Per the fcc.gov site, typical cell towers can be up to 200 feet tall. Today’s 65 feet cell tower can grow to much higher and uglier.
Property value erosion: Peer reviewed studies (email if you’d like them forwarded to you) show 20% lower property values near such huge towers. With all property values being based in large part on neighborhood “comps,” the ripple effect negatively impacts property values well beyond those that can “see” the tower.
Defacing A 60+ Year Old Historical Property: The ballpark was the first Little League field in the County. Established in the early 1950s, it was formally deemed by the City of Palo Alto as potentially eligible as a California Historic Resources site in 1998.
Safety: The Ballpark is the neighborhood hub for kids and all Palo Alto Little League ball players. It is immediately adjacent to Mitchell Park, the new Mitchell Park Library and Community Center, and Covenant Children’s Center. This is not a place to add a top-heavy, 65’ tall (initially), 24” diameter tower, plus electrical equipment sheds, and hydrogen fuel cell batteries.
Failure of Wireless Co to demonstrate need/exhaust all other locations: Verizon has the best coverage of any carrier in this particular neighborhood. According to its own website, they have 100% coverage at this location.
Nuisance/Invasion of Privacy, Lack of Fit with Residential Neighborhood: Such an installation would involve regular industrial maintenance truck incursions. The air conditioning unit and radios emit a droning sound 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Dangerous Approval Precedent to set for R-1 neighborhoods: Approving these towers in this R-1 zoned neighborhood surrounded by homes, schools, and public parks would set a dangerous precedent which could lead the City to ignore its own R-1 zoning and put such towers anywhere they deemed finacially advantagious.
R-1 Property and Neighborhood Is Incompatible with 65’ Commercial Cell tower: The Ballpark is three acres zoned as Single Family Residential. Little League of Palo Alto was given the opportunity to re-zone as a Public Facility Zone instead of R1 but declined the opportunity.
Palo Alto Little League Out of Compliance: The Ballpark is currently zoned as R-1 and operates under a variance as a ballpark. It also operates lights in the evening under a variance for the height of the light poles and a Conditional Use Permit from Palo Alto, which it is in violation of. Before PALL receives a further CUP for a cell tower, it needs to be compliant with the one it has.
Aesthetically Destructive: A 65 foot celltower (potentially much taller in the near future) in plain sight above nearby locations,, with a 9.5 foot tall 440 square foot chainlink-ringed structure.
We Oppose the New 65’ Cell Tower at Little League Ballpark
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.