Although the City Council still rejected their appeal, Malibu residents Ken Miller and Bob Carmichael got a better reception than they did with the Planning Commission in their quest to appeal two wireless microcell facility applications in Point Dume. The council voted 3-2 to deny the appeal, with Mayor Ken Kearsley and Councilmember Andy Stern casting the dissenting votes.
Sprint has applied to install 10 of the facilities in Malibu so it could upgrade its service, five of them in Point Dume. Former interim Planning Manager Ed Knight had approved all 10 at special hearings earlier this year, but three microcell facilities were appealed. The microcell consists of four antennas, 38 inches in height and 8.7-inches wide, attached to an existing utility pole with a 36-inch-high and
19-inch-wide equipment cabinet placed nearby.
By federal law, a local government can do little to deny an application; for that reason the Planning Commission had unanimously rejected both appeals. According to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a local authority cannot claim health risks as a reason for denying an application, as long as the facility meets the Federal Communications Commission standards. The city councilmembers all agreed they could do nothing about any health issues this might raise. But Kearsley pointed out how environmental issues could be factored into it, and he said they existed.
“We live in this wireless world, but my goodness, we’re putting all this garbage on telephone poles,” he said.
Kearsley said if a pole were to collapse, it could create a great environmental risk.
Although the council would not accept the appeal, it did approve moving as much of the equipment underground as was possible to still allow the facility to operate.
Miller and Carmichael are not ready to give up their fight though. Miller said he plans to take his case to the courts now that his municipal government appeals have run out. During the meeting, he said he had a strong case that the facility could not be built because it was replacing a former Sprint facility that had never been properly permitted. By city law, a permit cannot be issued if a violation exists on the property. Miller said the law is clearly on his side for that one.
In response to that argument, Councilmember Jeff Jennings said that portion of the city code was once again rearing its ugly head.
“It’s one of those code sections that is an absolute delight to anybody who wants to oppose a project,” Jennings said.
During the summer, the Planning Commission had recommended to eliminate that portion of the city code because it creates many problems, including the fact that even if somebody wanted to correct a problem, one could technically get a demolition permit to eliminate the previous structure with the problem. The recommendation has not yet gone before the City Council.
Also at the meeting, the council unanimously agreed that Alan Carson and Pat Greenwood could be award with Malibu Tiles.