Kensington Community Meets with AT&T Rep on Cell Antennas

I attended a meeting in Kensington Tuesday night, February 26th, where the matter of nine proposed AT&T cell antenna pole-top "miniature" antennas within a one and a half square mile of property was heatedly discussed.

Telecommunications Real Estate Consultant, Attorney & Broker, Matt Yergovich of Yergovich and Associates, LLC was AT&T's representative at this meeting. Matt stated that AT&T wishes to improve AT&T cell service through Kensington, and said that there are no health issues related to cell antennas, and that property values would not decline. His remarks were met with laughter and boos, to the point that Kensington Municipal Advisory Council (KMAC) members intervened and requested that the audience listen without comment. 

During public comment response to the proposed nine Kensington AT&T cell antennas, Kensington resident Charlotte Shimura of Highland Blvd. said, "The main reason I moved from Berkeley to Kensington was because there were fewer cell antennas here,"and then asked the question, "Who is getting paid for placing cell tower antennas here?"

One Kensington resident introduced himself as an appraiser, and said, "Property values adjacent to cell antenna sites will fall at least 4% and up to 24%, based on proximity to cell antennas. This will result in reductions in property taxes and therefore city funding for everything from public schools to maintenance of streets."

KENSINGTON COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS DENIAL OF ALL AT&T PROPOSED TOWERS

The Kensington Municipal Advisory Committee (KMAC) met in a long private session following the public meeting, after hearing a great deal of heated input from the public.  They then voted to recommend "denial" of all nine applications for towers. The KMAC advisory comments will go Contra Costa County as input to the county's CEQA Initial Study. KMAC's basis for denial in all cases was the Kensington Combining District Ordinance, specifically "compatibility of commercial structures with neighborhood with regard to bulk and scale," and for several of the towers, "preservation of views."

The Contra Costa County Community Development Department is asking for input from the public as they prepare the initial study. They will release their initial study and offer the public opportunity to comment for the next 30 days. Comments may be emailed to Francisco Avila, the Contra Costa Conservation and Development administrator for the AT&T applications at: francisco.avila@dcd.cccounty.us.

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