Residents who live in a community adjacent to the Park Authority’s George Washington Recreation Center — Old Mt. Vernon Road — object to the planned building of a cellphone tower at the center’s site.
Their objections center on the health effects of siting a microwave transmission tower in the immediate vicinity of residential homes and five schools, including three elementary schools. The site is approximately 150 feet from the boundaries of an unincorporated group of homes and easy walking distance to several schools. Last year a similar proposed cell phone tower in the vicinity of Fort Hunt Road and the Masonic Lodge building was objected to by local residents and ultimately rejected by the county. That site location was proposed on private land. The applicant is suing the county for rejecting the application.
At an on-site meeting Sunday, May 2, residents Margaret Szayna, Patrick Hawley, David Graff, Robert Botto and Alan Goozner expressed the reasons for their opposition:
* Unincorporated homeowner communities in close proximity to the planned site were denied adequate representation and not informed in a timely way to effectively impact on the review process.
* The 120-foot tower, extending about 60 feet above the tallest trees will be unsightly and adversely affect home values.
* It is visually inimical to the historic properties in the area.
* It will have adverse short and long term health consequences to everyone in the immediate vicinity and in particular the children who attend five different schools. All the schools are located within the 1,500-foot perimeter of the recognized international precautionary standard according to the position paper handed out by Botto.
The latter issue, the health effects of radiation on residents living in close proximity to the tower, and to school children attending nearby schools, was a primary focus of the residents’ objection.
Hawley, a parent and resident of Pettit’s Landing, said, "With up to 5 Telecom providers eligible to use the tower to transmit microwaves near five schools in a residentially zoned area and into my children’s bedrooms, why is the citizenry, especially parents of elementary school children, remaining passive? … The answer is parents are unaware of the site location planned, and they are unaware of the health consequences to their children of sustained microwave exposure".
Similarly, parent Szayna, a biophysicist, expressed concern about the health risks associated with high levels of radiation exposure and the lack of attention to this issue by the county agencies’ involved in the application review process.
The residents also collectively believed the process was tilted in favor of the commercial interests of T-Mobile, the applicant for the telecommunications tower construction. One estimate of the financial benefits to the Park Authority is it will receive $7,000 per month when the tower is completed and operational. The Park Authority and the Planning Commission are responsible for reviewing the T-Mobile application.
Mt. Zephyr Civic Association and Woodley Hills Community Association supported the site location. In addition, Park Authority spokesman Judy Peterson said that her agency supports locating the tower on the center property. She pointed out that the site has been under consideration by the Park Authority since 2007. The authority considered the public’s need for the tower and potential health effects during the public review process. Peterson added that the Fairfax County Planning Commission reviewed the tower proposal, conducted a public review, and gave the application "a section 2232 approval." This required a public hearing and extensive staff analysis of the application, as required by law.
IN CONTRAST, Botto, a scientist, who stated that he works on radio frequency spectroscopy issues for the U.S. Department of Defense, provided a position paper that discussed what he described as authoritative epidemiological studies showing a statistically significant risk of developing cancer for even short-term exposure to microwave transmission towers. His paper, which he said was not given adequate consideration, referenced the studies.
Information provided by Supervisor Gerry Hyland’s office stated that the site location application process was followed by the county the same as all other similar applications pursuant to the 2232 application review process.
At this time the Planning Commission and Park Authority have completed their review and have approved the construction of the telecommunications tower at the George Washington Recreation Center site. The Board of Supervisors does not have to review and approve an application which involves Park Authority land.
When contacted about the residents’ concerns, Hyland said: "Radiation from telecommunications towers is one of the most studied issues. … This issue has come before the Board of Supervisors on numerous occasions; the evidence is not conclusive, and in fact we have received conflicting evidence of the health effects due to radiation emitted by a telecommunications tower … I can understand their concern about the potential health effects and respect the rights of concerned parents not to want their children to be exposed to harmful radiation. However, the Planning Commission and the Park Authority went through an extensive review process and it was their view that the GW Recreation Center site should be approved."
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Residents Oppose Cell Tower Location
Source: Month Vernon Gazette
Date: 05/06/2010
