County's New Draft Wireless Ordinance Needs Your Input

It is unfortunately no surprise that the County of San Diego rolls right overtop of residents - even ignoring basic, good business practices when making decisions, especially by the Planning Department. In several meetings recently held with county planners concerning the new draft wireless ordinance for the unincorporated area of the County, that will impact all our lives in negative ways most cannot yet imagine, it was evident that their Chief of Advanced Planning, Eric Lardy, was cavalier about residents' concerns. Small cells for 4G and 5G emitting very hazardous microwave radiation at close proximity to homes and our kids are at issue in the new draft ordinance, to be finalized in early July for a vote by - guess who?- the County Planning Commission, in a meeting on July 19th. It starts at 9 AM (and speakers will be needed to attend then, too - must arrive earlier than 9 AM to get a speaker slip). Residents are asked to review the draft wireless document and provide written comments, yet few ever heard of it and those few who did don't feel "heard". Well one way not to be heard is to slip this one right by you. After the Planning Commission approves their final draft (following your comments), the Board of Supervisors (BOS) will vote on it on August 7th, again, with speakers from the community needed, who arrive earlier than 9 AM to fill out a speaker slip. Both of those meetings are said to be at the County's Kearny Mesa location, exact location to-be-announced. The County building pictured above, the usual location for BOS meetings on Pacific Hwy, is being renovated and is said to be unavailable.

So we need more people to file their opinions, and fast, as the deadline ends on June 30th. Mr. Lardy claims the Board of Supervisors will only be sent those letters received that are "on letterhead", by him, so it is advisable to put Dianne Jacob on copy as well as the Planning Department. We wonder how this requirement with only forwarding letters on letterhead jives with allowing the taxpayers to be heard. Did Mr. Lardy make up that rule? We'd like to know. We think that (personal?) rule sounds discriminatory and needs to be removed.

Write the Planning Department (and Supervisor Jacob) about this wireless ordinance if you'd like to provide input on a small cells ordinance that some feel has the destructive capacity, as it stands now, to ruin life and property, and perhaps bankrupt the County of San Diego, due to legal cases resulting from the way it is now written. Small cells for 4G and 5G are like mini-cell towers, except placed all along the streets, right in front of homes, causing close-range exposure to hazardous, continuous, and unsafety-checked millimeter wave / microwave radiation. They can also catch fire. Think of that, a small cell on a pole starts a fire as did a utility facility in Paradise, California, and the County didn't require the wireless companies to carry enough (or any) insurance to cover a situation like that, or to cover harm to health, which one wireless company warned its investors could cause "a loss" recently.

One might ask, as Crest residents we interviewed did, why doesn't Mr. Lardy seem at all concerned when residents are? Why does he so consistently seem to favor the wishes of the wireless industry over those of property owners and taxpayers? It is a question we hope to get to the bottom of.

One large "small cell" that we know of, in Crest (East County), has ended up on a private road where the owner hadn't been informed. The top of the 40 foot small cell pole is level with a 4 year old child's bedroom window, not many tens of feet away, as it starts lower on the hill. SDG&E leases the space on a new pole they erected for the cell. The County issued the permit and it may or may not be in a right-of-way owned by the County. The small cell will continously beam its strong signal (said to go for miles) and carcinogenic microwave radiation directly through that child's bedroom and the entire house and yard. This doesn't bother the Planning Department at all. Not even when it was alleged that the owner didn't know and the pole was placed in the wrong location. No problem for the County Planning Department, or for industry. Meanwhile, the new ordinance needs to be read, re-read, and commented on by the end of June, by all of us.

Some of the problems we see are:

1. Lack of requirement of proof of insurance or bonds for the installers or telecom companies, per small cell, though other municipalities have required this. Small cells can catch fire. Small cells can destroy health and cost lives. Small cells can cause your property to be unsellable or lose in value up to 30% according to some realtors.
2. No setback to the edge of private property, so a small cell can be placed right by the curb, near or in front of your home.
3. No proof of safety even though industry officials have admitted there is none. That's ok, right? Well, it is with the Planning Department.
4. No ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) considerations for people with disabilities or health conditions who must avoid close-range microwave radiation (like pacemakers, metal shunts, auto-immune diseases, ADHD, ADD, autism, seizure disorders, and electro-sensitivities, to name but a few). The only ADA concerns are about whether a wheelchair could navigate the right-of-way. Isn't that disability discrimination?
5. Allows small cells to be located in parks and ballfields.
6. Small cells are to be granted as "ministerial" permits, sometimes referred to as "non-discretionary". Discretionary means it is open to discussion. So these will be automatically approved upon receipt of a complete application, apparently, without giving anyone a chance to provide input. You'll go to work, come home, and there's the small cell in front of your home.
7. The time frame allowed by federal law (60 and 90 day "shot clocks") are nowhere in the draft ordinance as Chief Lardy and his team have so kindly allowed wireless companies to have nearly instant approval for small cells. No need for input or discussion even though allowed by the new FCC orders. That, we feel is downright sneaky. It will happen, too, unless you let the Planning Department get away with this, that is!
8. Noticing of neighbors to the small cell is left to 500 feet and at the discretion of the wireless company apparently, as Mr. Lardy informed the people in Crest, when everyone said they weren't given proper (or any) noticing. Funny how industry gets discretion, residents don't.
9. The small cells (which are not small at all, up to four feet in this county ordinance) can be grouped together, two to a pole, at least.
10. Noise from small cells may be continuous, disruptive and even interfere with sleep, but not be able to evaluated by County standards or equipment for the types of noise emitted by high frequencies, and thus not be properly addressed.
11. No one in the County is requiring anyone to prove or even report how strong the signal or microwave emissions are. This is not of concern to the Planning Department.
12. No Master Plan is required. No plan at all. Just apply to put up a small cell anywhere and you've got it, mister!
13. Many trees may be cut down or cut in half as 5G small cells require line-of-sight to be clear. So kiss your trees goodbye in the right-of-ways which can extend 6-8 feet into what you think is your property, from the curb.
14. No complaint hotline for small cells making noise, causing health problems, or for any reason. Who do you call? Hopefully not the Planning Department. They haven't been much help thus far. Ask the people in Crest.

Here is the San Diego County notice for the new draft wireless ordinance. Let us know if you've ever seen it or if you're sending a comment. Better yet, post your comment(s) here or on a FB page like Stop 5G California, which would welcome those! Whether you live in the unincorporated part of the County or not, you enjoy it, so make a comment and put your own supervisor, if not Dianne Jacob, on copy.

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On February 27, 2019, the Board of Supervisors (Board) directed staff to return to the Board in 180 days with additional requirements for small cell wireless facilities for reducing cluttering, avoidance of sensitive sites, co-location, distance between poles, placement of utility boxes, residential preferred locations, undergrounding of equipment, and additional public noticing. This project proposes changes to the Zoning Ordinance to address the Board direction and to comply with the September 2018 FCC Order.

The draft Zoning Ordinance Update for Small Cell Wireless Facilities is available for public review from May 31, 2019 – June 30, 2019.

The draft ordinance and supporting documents are available for download at the project website: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov...

Supporting documents include the following:

• Additional Options for the Board to consider related to Small Cell Wireless Facilities
• Draft Small Cell Wireless Facility Questionnaire (to be completed by applicant)
• Draft Application for Small Cell Wireless Facility Permits (to be completed by applicant)
• Visuals illustrating staff recommendations for configuration preferences (Section 6992.A.8)

Please provide comments on the draft Zoning Ordinance Update for Small Cell Wireless Facilities by June 30, 2019.

San Diego, CA 92123 [MS O-650]

The proposed schedule leading to Board consideration is outlined below:

Public Outreach

June

CPSG Coordination

July 19

Planning Commission

August 7

Board of Supervisors

Staff will continue to provide project updates as they become available, through the stakeholder email list and through the project web page at https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/pds/advance/smallcellwirelessfacilities.html

For any questions, please contact Tara Lieberman | PDS.AdvancePlanning@sdcounty.ca.gov (project email address) | (858) 495-5466 (project phone line)

Note: Supervisor Dianne Jacob's email address is dianne.jacob@sdcounty.ca.gov. Her staffer, Adam Wilson is at adam.wilson@sdcounty.ca.gov.

Click this link to learn more about how to file an ADA Request for Accommodations concerning small cells. To learn more about problems with these 4G/5G small cells planned for our community, go to www.electrosmogprevention.org and do a search on San Diego County.

Related articles: Ramona Call to Action: Stop 5G small cells

East Washington Street Cell Tower: Ramona Call to Action

County Supervisors to vote Feb. 27 on hazardous 5G installations

San Diego County Planning Commission Meeting Calendar and Agendas (2019)

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Meeting Calendar and Agendas (2019)