Simon Says, “StopTheCellTower, Please!”

Letter

By on Mon, September 13, 2010

Dear CCWD’s Chris, Bob, Jerry, Ken, Jim, David:

My name is Simon Streets.

Please call me Simon.

My family of 6 and I reside on San Clemente Road in El Granada the fourth house up from Isabella Road where the CCWD and AT&T are considering “planting” a cell tower mono-pine tree.

By now you have heard and read various concerns of several El Granada community members regarding the “planting” of this cell tower tree.

I have been active in “spreading the word” about these cell tower plans to our community and expressing our community’s concerns to the MCC Board.

Most concerned parties are in favor of improved cell service in the surrounding communities, but most of these same parties strongly request that any required cell towers be co-located with current cell towers or located in commercial areas and not in R-1 zoned residential areas.

I understand that these cell tower plans are part of “your business” and provide some revenue for the CCWD, however, the concern and disruption that these plans cause many of my El Granada neighbors is part of “my business”, and I truly hope that you will hear, listen, and absorb the concerns of the El Granada community members whom have provided their concerns to you via letters, e-mails, online petition comments, petition signatures, newspaper articles, web-site postings, etc.,.

Please, please, please consider it a “community service” to hear, listen, and absorb the concerns of my neighbors—I truly beg for your compassion regarding this issue.

Personally, for me it has been a wonderful experience to meet and get to know so many of my El Granada neighbors and learn more about the local governments of the Coastside, and it has been truly enlightening to directly hear the community feedback when I am holding petitions out in front of the El Granada Post Office or reading the community feedback from the online petition or in locally published articles and letters.

Ironically, through my concerns of the planting of this proposed cell tower tree, in addition to meeting my neighbors and learning more about our local Coastside government, I have also had other positive and constructive experiences including learning about web-site construction and online petition development, constructing newspaper add layout, investigating global concerns and “unknowns” surrounding cell towers, communicating with schools and mothers’ groups, networking with community members, gathering petition signatures, and I have even learned about t-shirt fabrication and printing.

Please, please, please hear, listen, and absorb the concerns of my neighbors—this is not just another NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) or NIMFY (Not In My FRONT Yard) issue—my neighbors truly believe that there are viable alternative cell tower sites available on local commercially zoned land rather than the proposed R-1 zoned area of residential El Granada.

Please hear us in El Granada—please listen, please hear, and please read what my neighbors are saying and writing.

Thank you in advance for your compassion regarding this issue and considering “transplanting” the proposed cell tower mono-pine tree plans to a viable commercial venue that does not negatively impact my El Granada neighbors (or my other Coastside neighbors).

Looking forward to meeting you on Tuesday, September 14 at the CCWD Board Meeting downtown.

Thank you for your time, and Simon Says, “StopTheCellTower.Org”.