The proposed 35-foot-tall pole, with antennas designed to look like a pine tree, would be located in the northwest corner of the park behind the baseball diamond and bring the city about $1,800 a month through a lease agreement with T-Mobile West Corporation, according to city reports.
Despite compliance with city codes and zoning requirements, the growing list of critics also pointed to the proposed antenna’s proximity to single-family homes, Horace Mann Children’s Center, St. Francis Xavier schools and a church.
Kiku Lani Iwata, a member of No Cell Tower In Our Neighborhood, the group mobilizing against the project, cited studies that indicated a higher rate of dizziness, tremors, sleeplessness, depression and risk of cancer in children who live close to cellular antenna sites.
“Is this the kind of future we want for our children, for Burbank?” said Iwata, who hosts an online petition and website for the group.
Communications companies have repeatedly refuted assertions of negative health impacts.
She called on city leaders to hold a series of public discussions, bringing together an array of experts to create a “sensible and smart” master plan for wireless communication facilities, one that would “balance the increasing demands of the wireless industry with the needs of our residents.”
Michael Thompson, Burbank Water and Power’s engineer assigned to the project, said finding another site is a question for T-Mobile.
In selecting the site, the company followed its standard procedures for analyzing radio design standards, suitable parcels that meet the city’s zoning standards, a willing landlord and “constructability,” said Steve Caplan, T-Mobile’s senior manager of national external affairs.
