T Mobile

Parents of children who attend two schools located near the Little White Chapel held a news conference on Thursday calling on the Burbank City Council to block the installation of a wireless telecommunication facility inside the church because of the dangers they say radio emissions pose to the public. The public pressure came as the Burbank City Council prepares to hear three appeals on Tuesday to a Planning Board decision to approve the T-Mobile equipment. Julie Fisher, whose 6-year-old attends Bret Hart Elementary, said her house is only 600 feet from the planned wireless equipment and feels that allowing the installation takes away her rights as a parent.

Several Burbank residents met Wednesday to organize a fight against a planned wireless telecommunications facility atop a nearby church. Their battle includes filing three appeals of a decision by the Planning Board allowing the project to move forward. Board members approved the facility last month, despite the opposition of several residents living near the Little White Church on Avon Street. The Burbank City Council is scheduled to hear the appeals on May 22. One of the main issues for residents is that the project will set a precedent.

On Sept. 21, 2011, the City Council voted, 3-2, to enact an ordinance that allows the placement of wireless cellphone equipment in single-family residential areas as long as the equipment is in, or on, institutional buildings such as churches or schools and as long as a conditional use permit is granted On Feb. 27, the city Planning Board voted to approve a permit giving T-Mobile the right to place its cellphone equipment on top of the Little White...

After an emotional battle over a proposed wireless telecommunications facility at the Little White Chapel in Burbank, the neighbors who fought against it joined church members Wednesday for a potluck to mend fences and look toward a more harmonious future. Over a potluck that included lasagna and fried chicken, the two sides mingled in a garden at the church, where Pastor Bill Thomas Jr. welcomed the group as they applauded his entrance. “That is the most glorious sound that God has heard in the last few minutes is all of us clapping together,” he told the gathering.

The Little White Chapel turned into a huge political mess for the City Council this week after neighbors crowded City Hall to demand a planned T-Mobile wireless facility atop the chapel not be built. The City Council acquiesced, essentially pledging to block the project. In making their decision, City Council members cited several reasons, including the fact that the new steeple-like structure would make the church too tall to be compatible with the neighborhood. The prickly issue for the City Council is that the project conformed with recent laws that were adopted to allow such equipment on certain structures.

Wireless communication antennas — which have come under greater scrutiny from residents over their visual impacts — will face more review under proposed guidelines working their way through City Hall. Under some of the proposed revisions to the city’s aging zoning laws for the telecommunication equipment, all new antennas would go before the Planning Board, and nearby residents would be notified in advance of the meeting. Some residents have complained that the proliferation of wireless telecommunications antennas and other equipment are aesthetically unappealing and pull down property values.

Is the school board passing the buck regarding children's long-term safety? So far, the school board has given a tepid response to the proposed installation of a T-Mobile cell tower on N. Avon Street. While the superintendent says he opposes towers placed on school property, he hasn't taken a stance on those placed near schools. What difference does it make if you don't allow them on your property but don't oppose them when they're being installed right next door? Some board members say the issue is beyond their control, but I believe they underestimate their influence with the City Council and the mission with which they have been charged.

I fear that the fight over the installation of a T-Mobile cell tower on North Avon Street is already a done deal. Why else would the mayor, the planning board and the City Council have changed the law last year that banned such installations in residential neighborhoods? I understand that the city makes money from the installations of such towers (and there are close to 200 already in Burbank commercial zones), but what is the money for? I assume it's for the betterment of the lives of Burbank residents.

In the wake of a controversial proposal to install a telecommunications facility in a local church, the Burbank Unified School District is moving to ban similar equipment on any of its campuses. The district's spokeswoman, Kimberley Clark, said a sentence prohibiting cellular antenna equipment and towers on school property was added to the district's safety policy by school officials on Monday. The move was a nod to neighborhood opposition to the telecommunications facility planned for the Little White Chapel on Avon Street.

After an emotional battle over a proposed wireless telecommunications facility at the Little White Chapel in Burbank, the neighbors who fought against it joined church members Wednesday for a potluck to mend fences and look toward a more harmonious future. Over a potluck that included lasagna and fried chicken, the two sides mingled in a garden at the church, where Pastor Bill Thomas Jr. welcomed the group as they applauded his entrance. “That is the most glorious sound that God has heard in the last few minutes is all of us clapping together,” he told the gathering.

Residents were successful Tuesday in keeping a wireless telecommunications facility out of their neighborhood after Burbank City Council members pledged to block the project. Amid an overflow crowd at the council's chambers, officials were directed to draft a resolution for June 5 so the City Council can formally approve appeals filed against the T-Mobile facility slated for atop the Little White Chapel at 1711 N. Avon St. In their appeals, residents argued the project would negatively impact property values and was incompatible with a single-family residential area.

Parents of children who attend two schools located near the Little White Chapel held a news conference on Thursday calling on the Burbank City Council to block the installation of a wireless telecommunication facility inside the church because of the dangers they say radio emissions pose to the public. The public pressure came as the Burbank City Council prepares to hear three appeals on Tuesday to a Planning Board decision to approve the T-Mobile equipment. Julie Fisher, whose 6-year-old attends Bret Hart Elementary, said her house is only 600 feet from the planned wireless equipment and feels that allowing the installation takes away her rights as a parent.

Is the school board passing the buck regarding children's long-term safety? So far, the school board has given a tepid response to the proposed installation of a T-Mobile cell tower on N. Avon Street. While the superintendent says he opposes towers placed on school property, he hasn't taken a stance on those placed near schools. What difference does it make if you don't allow them on your property but don't oppose them when they're being installed right next door? Some board members say the issue is beyond their control, but I believe they underestimate their influence with the City Council and the mission with which they have been charged.

I fear that the fight over the installation of a T-Mobile cell tower on North Avon Street is already a done deal. Why else would the mayor, the planning board and the City Council have changed the law last year that banned such installations in residential neighborhoods? I understand that the city makes money from the installations of such towers (and there are close to 200 already in Burbank commercial zones), but what is the money for? I assume it's for the betterment of the lives of Burbank residents.

Home. A sacred place. Imagine you found out it is being threatened, along with your long-term health, by something that your city council recently decided was a good idea. For the first time ever in Burbank, a cellphone tower is slated to be installed in a residential neighborhood, on your street. Imagine you learn more and more about the effects of these towers so close to homes and schools. You learn that the EMR Policy Institute recommends a buffer zone of 1,500 feet between towers and schools, that children are the most vulnerable to tower emissions, that studies show many types of health effects, that two schools, Bret Harte and Luther Burbank, as well as a day care center, are within this 1,500 feet of the proposed tower.

I live near the Little White Chapel, as well as Bret Harte Elementary School, Luther Burbank Middle School and Village Christian Toddler Center. My husband and I have lived in our house for 21 years, as long as we've been married. We have two children. There have been so many times throughout my life here that I have looked out my window and admired the quaint, lovely, and peaceful Little White Chapel. I've often thought how lucky we are to live near a house of worship, as well as to be able to look out and gaze at the beautiful church and steeple with its cross at the top. T-Mobile intends to erect a cell tower there.

In the wake of a controversial proposal to install a telecommunications facility in a local church, the Burbank Unified School District is moving to ban similar equipment on any of its campuses. The district's spokeswoman, Kimberley Clark, said a sentence prohibiting cellular antenna equipment and towers on school property was added to the district's safety policy by school officials on Monday. The move was a nod to neighborhood opposition to the telecommunications facility planned for the Little White Chapel on Avon Street.

Several Burbank residents met Wednesday to organize a fight against a planned wireless telecommunications facility atop a nearby church. Their battle includes filing three appeals of a decision by the Planning Board allowing the project to move forward. Board members approved the facility last month, despite the opposition of several residents living near the Little White Church on Avon Street. The Burbank City Council is scheduled to hear the appeals on May 22. One of the main issues for residents is that the project will set a precedent.