RE: "North of the Bay #236" - New Year's Political Resolutions - Resolve the Dispute
Between MERA and the Town of Tiburon
Dick Spotswood
Marinscope Papers
2400 Bridgeway, Suite 290
Sausalito, CA 94965
Dear Mr. Spotswood:
MERA would certainly agree that siting a south county antenna is an important 2003 â??resolution.â?? Unfortunately, your January 8th column perpetuates some myths that have plagued resolution of this issue:
- â??Tiburon needs to protect its residents who live next to the proposed antenna.â??
What is Tiburon protecting its residents from? Youâ??re perpetuating the myth that radio waves are harmful and somehow residents need to be protected from them.
Radio waves are an everyday fact of our lives. We get them from the sun and microwave ovens. We expose ourselves to radio waves when we use our cellular phones. We expose our children to them and the rest of our family when we use baby monitors. They pass through us as we use AM/FM radios. There are no proven harmful effects from radio radiation. There are established federal standards defining when radio waves become a problem and MERA is substantially below those radio waves safety standards at all its sites, the Mt. Tiburon site in particular.
We believe the main concern of the neighbors to the propose MERA site is financial, and not health. They believe that the value of their property will be effected if next to a radio tower.
Those neighbors bought their properties next to an existing MMWD water tank, which had radio towers in operation on the top of the tank and previously had a cable television radio receiver tower on the site. None of these existing uses prevented them from buying their properties.
- â??The potential alternatives are well known, ...â??
Through the course of the design and siting of the MERA system and particularly in response to the dispute in South County, MERA staff and consultants have analyzed over 17 potential sites to place the tower. There are relatively few that actually meet the coverage requirements of our public safety agencies.
a) Engineering considerations
MERA has a coverage goal that cannot be met from an antenna site outside southern Marin County. Also, there are FAA and engineering limitations on how high a MERA tower can be (theoretically, a tower can be anywhere if youâ??re willing to make it tall enough). There is also an issue of MERA towers being on too high a location, creating radio interference problems elsewhere in the Bay Area and thus precluding federal licensing of that site.
b) Land use considerations
It has often been suggested that we place the MERA tower on Angel Island. We made several efforts to acquire a site on Angel Island even though that was not a favorable site from a construction and operational viewpoint. It is very clear that limitations, both at the State and federal levels, precluded us acquiring that site. Please see the attached letter from Senator Burton.
The other suggestion has been that we locate in open space. Such an action would require an extensive legal and environmental review to determine whether or not the restrictions on the acquisition of that open space, including the voter approved funding, allowed the siting of a MERA antenna. There are also practical political considerations given that the residents near the proposed open space site and open space advocates generally can be expected to object to the location of a radio antenna in those territories. The potential for significant public opposition and litigation is very high if these alternatives are pursued.
- â??â?¦they just cost money.â??
One potential solution that has been discussed is to build two MERA sites to cover the South County. The proposal has been to locate one site on top of Wolfback Ridge in Sausalito, with a second â??fill-inâ?? site elsewhere in Southern County. The often discussed second site alternative would be at the Southern Marin Fire Station on the Strawberry peninsula. Tiburon has recently suggested that the second site could be at a facility in downtown Tiburon (fire station, city hall or their police station).
A second site doubles the cost of siting MERA in South County (two sites rather than one) and there are other practical considerations. A decision to proceed with a two-site option along the possible configurations outlined above, would require extensive new land use review process, including a supplemental Environmental Impact Report. The two-site solution that involved siting a facility at the Southern Marin Fire Station at Strawberry would mean that application would have to be processed through the County. The County Board of Supervisors would most likely have to deal with concerns of the neighbors adjacent to the fire station and their likely opposition, â??â?¦why is it not O.K. to place this in a Tiburon neighborhood, but it is O.K. to place it in a Strawberry neighborhood?â?? Siting a second tower in downtown Tiburon would probably result in a similar opposition from the effected residences and/or businesses in that area.
Also, it might be desirable for you to understand the rationale for the selection of the Mt. Tiburon site.
When MERA was created, an RFP was issued to retain a vendor to build the radio system. The RFP required the submitting company to propose the sites upon which to locate the tower. The winning Motorola bid proposed a site in Southern Marin at one of two MMWD tank sites (Mt. Tiburon or Sugarloaf). The rational was to reduce the cost and facilitate the approvals by using an existing public use, controlled by one MERAâ??s members (MMWD).
Tiburon is a founding member and has had representatives at the MERA meetings throughout the period that this matter has been under discussion. Tiburonâ??s MERA representative was Chief of Police, Peter Herley. Chief Herley was briefed on the proposal to locate at Mt. Tiburon on numerous occasions during 1998 while the Motorola contract was being negotiated and approved.
Once the Motorola contract was approved, MERA staff assumed that the siting of an antenna in Tiburon would be one of the more difficult aspects of the project. Anticipating potential opposition, a decision to do a full Environmental Impact Report and retain environmental consultant planning consultant, John Roberto, was made.
In the summer of 1999, John Roberto was preparing the draft EIR, considering the EIR implications of the Sugarloaf and Mt. Tiburon sites. At Sugarloaf, because of the trees, a tall tower would have been necessary which would have been very evident against the background of the eastern sky. At Mt. Tiburon, the tower would not have to be as tall and would be back-dropped against pine trees. Mr. Roberto felt that a visually significant impact would have to be made for a site at Sugarloaf and a less than significant impact could be made at Mt. Tiburon.
He met with Tiburon Town Community Development Director, Scott Anderson, to discuss these options and Mr. Anderson agreed that a less visually significant impact could be made at Mt. Tiburon. He further suggested that the new MERA tower be located where the abandoned Viacom tower currently stood.
Based on this conversation, a decision was made to select the Mt. Tiburon site and the full Environmental Impact Report was prepared.
Once a draft Environmental Impact Report was published, copies were delivered to all member agencies, including the Town of Tiburon. The Town planning staff, particularly Mr. Anderson, decided to not present the Environmental Impact Report to the Town Planning Commission or the Town Council. During the public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Report, no comments were received from the Town of Tiburon or any of its residents. During the final hearing on the Final Environmental Impact Report, again, no comments were received from the Town of Tiburon or its residents.
Town staff was at the MERA meetings when the Environmental Impact Report was presented and discussed and obviously knew of its proposal to build a site at Mt. Tiburon.
These are significant meetings, because I am very confident that if the Town of Tiburon staff had objected or if the Town staff had told the City Council or Planning Commission about the project and serious objections had arisen from that review, MERA would have made alternate siting decisions.
Now, we have a complete certified and legally unassailable Environmental Impact Report. If MERA decides to move off the Mt. Tiburon site (which is covered in that certified Environmental Impact Report), it exposes itself to do a full additional environmental review on the alternate site. The time necessary to do this is a minimum of nine months and carries a potential for controversy and litigation making that timeframe much longer.
Consequently, if we believe that we have a serious radio communications problem in Marin County that will be solved by the completion and operation of MERA, we cannot legitimately agree to extended time delays and the potential for a new round of litigation to go to an alternate site.
This is why MERA remains so steadfast in its efforts to build the site at Mt. Tiburon. It believes that is the best alternative for all the citizens of Marin County.
If you would like to visit these sites and their alternates, I would be very willing to arrange such a tour.
Very truly yours,
Martin J. Nichols,
Executive Director
MJN/mel
MARIN EMERGENCY RADIO AUTHORITY
27 Commercial Blvd., Suite C, Novato, CA 94949
Phone: (415) 883-9100 FAX: (415) 883-9155
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Saturday, February 4, 2012