Caught between the concerns of more than 100 members of the Stella Maris Academy community and its role as an advisory committee reviewing projects for compliance with the La Jolla Community Plan and City of San Diego ordinances, the La Jolla Development Permit Review Board struggled at its Aug. 13 meeting over how to move forward with a proposal to locate a new wireless facility near the school in the Village of La Jolla.
The Commission ultimately invited the applicant to submit further information at a later date.
The DPR first discussed the application during its initial review on July 16.
A proposal submitted to the City of San Diego seeks to install a new Dish Network rooftop wireless 5G facility at 1135 Klein Street, about 400 feet east of Stella Maris University’s main campus at 7654 Herschel Ave. and about five feet away from the school’s sports court.
Stella Maris Academy is a parochial school for nearby Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church that serves students in kindergarten through grade 8. The school is not affiliated with the project.
The proposal includes three panel antennas, six remote radio units, three fiber reinforced plastic boxes, stucco panel equipment enclosures, equipment cabinets, auxiliary equipment and accessories. If the installation is approved, it will take 30 to 45 days to complete.
“The general objective of this project is to provide new wireless spectrum service to areas that do not yet have wireless spectrum service,” Maverick Becker, a land acquisition specialist with Morrison Hershfield, a consultant to Dish Wireless, previously told the DPR Commission. Becker said the area would benefit from “more affordable wireless service options and faster connectivity.”
Dish covers 70% of the U.S., he said, and has a goal of covering 75% by 2025. “So this project will contribute to that.”
The fiber-reinforced box will provide shielding for antennas and wireless equipment and is designed to blend in with the roof on the “back side, facing the school” of the Klein Street building, Becker said. “We want the box to look like an extension of the roof. The antennas will be installed behind the new enclosure.”
He noted that wireless development is permitted in the area as long as it complies with height and setback requirements.
While the project’s aesthetics, height and setbacks are within the DPR’s purview, parents and school officials shared health concerns about children’s potential exposure to high-frequency radio waves from 5G technology, the fifth-generation wireless network that aims to increase internet speeds and provide a more reliable connection.
Local planning commissions are unable to consider the potential effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) when making decisions about wireless projects.
Nonetheless, the possibility of exposure and its potential health effects were discussed at length.
Similar concerns were raised earlier this year about a Dish Network 5G cell tower proposed for construction inside the bell tower of La Jolla Presbyterian Church, at 7715 Draper Ave. Parents were concerned about how electromagnetic radiation could affect children attending the church’s kindergarten and playing at the La Jolla Recreation Center across the street.
The project was cancelled.
Stella Maris location confusion
“We are aware of the concerns from the community, particularly Stella Maris Academy,” Becker said.
He said a third-party company funded by Dish Wireless had prepared a report on the radiation levels associated with this type of project and said the levels were safe.
Christopher Collins, a professor of radiology at New York University, said the highest frequencies for 5G range from about 24.2GHz to 52.6GHz. Forbes In a journal article earlier this year, he said that electromagnetic waves start to become dangerous at frequencies around 3 million GHz.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that “the current limits for radio frequency energy established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are: [Federal Communications Commission] It remains acceptable for the protection of public health.”
“You are a [compliance] “We are following the guidelines but are dealing with people who have legitimate safety concerns about the antennas being so close to children’s play areas.”
“The reality is that we have a lot of parents vocalizing that they are going to transfer their kids out of our school,” Mulcahy said. “This is an existential threat to our school. … I think this is something that needs to be considered because it really impacts The Villages, our school in particular, and the community as a whole.”
Explaining why the site so close to Stella Maris was chosen, Dish Wireless site development manager Charles Lindsay said finding a place to house the equipment had to “several factors” come together, including landowner consent, compliance with local regulations and a location that would help fill a coverage gap.
Dish did not identify the property owner.
“There are no other homes on this site,” Lindsay said. “I’ve contacted other sites and landowners in the area but have either not heard back or been told it’s not buildable or not something that can be built according to current regulations.”
Safety Considerations
It’s not clear who wrote the EMF report Becker cited, but David Witkowski of Oku Solutions, who reviewed it, said that when assessing the safety of such a project, “you have to use the worst-case scenario for all the numbers and assume the site is operating at 100 percent power levels, which is not the case.”
He said the worst-case predicted level of electromagnetic exposure from the ground is about 11 percent of the acceptable level, but he said his personal guess is it’s closer to 3 percent of the acceptable level.
Witkowski said the building is about five feet away from the sports court, but the facility itself is about 20 feet high, and he argued that any electromagnetic waves emanating from its location would be diverted to children playing on the court.
“Imagine you’re reading a book at night. There’s a lighthouse. [nearby]There’s no way I’d sit on the base of a lighthouse. [to see the book]”Why? Because the light goes out and away, not down. It’s not straight down that’s the problem for these places, because the pattern doesn’t go that way. The antennas are designed to radiate energy towards the horizon, so the fact that it’s five feet away from a playground doesn’t matter.”
But parents said that would have meant more waves would have reached the school itself, about 400 feet away.
Some people at the meeting shouted questions and comments from their seats, while others continued to line up throughout the comment period to voice their concerns.
“We demand a more detailed analysis,” said parent Aubrey Evelyn. “The RF report is largely boilerplate and the simulation methodology is insufficient to adequately answer safety questions.”
Some pointed out that Stella Maris caters to students from kindergarten through eighth grade, and that children attending the school throughout that time would be exposed to electromagnetic radiation for years to come.
Forbes More than 3,500 doctors were reported citing peer-reviewed scientific studies that point to possible risks of cancer, cellular stress, genetic damage, reproductive changes and neurological damage from low-level radiation emitted by cell phones, computers, power lines and microwave ovens.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences says more research is needed but recommends “continuing education about practical ways to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields.”
DPR Chairman Brian Will said the committee’s “hands may be tied. We’re not here to adjudicate on the health effects of this radiation.”
“But as a trustee for this area, I think it’s disrespectful to choose a site right next to a school playground. … This board can’t technically decide who’s right and who’s wrong, but we’ve heard loud and clear that the community has these concerns. [that] this [project] It could have a financial impact on the school.”
“You’re part of the community and I’m here to represent you, so if this is something that makes you uncomfortable, then I have to go along with it,” DPR board member David Fremdling said.
In deciding how to move forward, board member Greg Jackson said two questions need to be answered: whether and, if so, where there is a service gap in La Jolla that the project should fill, and a list of all the technically viable sites that were disqualified for one reason or another.
A motion to postpone a vote on the project until those questions were resolved passed 5-1, with board member Glenn Rasmussen voting against, believing the vote should have taken place today. Chairman Will abstained, as is customary.
“It’s a big deal,” said La Jolla resident Kay Plantes. La Jolla Light Speaking to DPR, she said she felt “helplessness and sadness.”
“It’s great that La Jolla has a local board, but what good is it really going to do if it doesn’t stop these terrible commercial decisions by Dish Network and the building owner?” she said.
She suggested that donors pay the owner a comparable fee and opt out of the installation, or that a local group purchase the building.
“Does Girard or Herschel own the building? [avenues] “Is there a location away from the school where the installation can be set up?” she said. “I’m not a parent of a child who attends the school, but I sincerely hope a solution can be found for this important member of the community.”
The DPR Commission meets on the second and third Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is scheduled for August 20, but it is not yet clear whether the Dish Wireless project will be discussed then. The agenda is posted 72 hours in advance at: Home page.
—La Jolla Lite Editor Rob Verdon contributed to this report. ♦
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