Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

On March 7, 2012 �the Greenwich Times reported ��.. Citing the uncertain health impacts of cell towers, Greenwich's four-member state delegation is supporting a bill that would keep the structures from being placed near places with large concentrations of children.�� State Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th District, and state Rep. Alfred Camillo, R-151st District, testified last week before the General Assembly's Energy and Technology Committee on Bill 5271, a section of which would prohibit the placement of cell towers within 250 feet of schools and day care centers. Frantz said he supports the bill because "of the unknowns about the health issues with radiation coming from these towers and a population that may be vulnerable to that."Currently, the Connecticut Siting Council is responsible for providing siting review regarding proposals to develop large-scale utility infrastructure and telecommunications facilities, including cellular towers. http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Greenwich-delegation-backs-cell-tower-bill-3389957.php�

Other States and municipalities are proposing similar legislation as noted at the end of this publication.�

As our State Legislators are considering placing cell phone towers in our State Parks and Forest, Town of East Hartford Officials are proposing to sign a low-cost lease agreement to allow a Cell Phone Tower in one of East Hartford�s prime parks � Gorman Park.� A meeting of the Town Council�s Fees Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 5:15 PM on the second floor of Town Hall.

The proposal to construct Cell Phone Towers in our State Parks and Forests is being challenged by some to include� Tom Andersen of the Connecticut Audubon Society, Dir. of Communications and Community Outreach.��

The following was posted by the FairfieldPatch at the following link: http://fairfield.patch.com/blog_posts/keep-cell-towers-out-of-state-parks

By Tom Andersen:� Do you want to see cell towers rising in Connecticut�s state parks and forests? Connecticut�s General Assembly in Hartford is considering a bill that would allow that to happen.

Connecticut Audubon Society thinks it�s a bad idea.

A provision in a bill now before the General Assembly, An Act Modernizing the State�s Telecommunications Laws (SB 447), would allow communications companies to build towers in state parks and forests, with the approval of the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

This would fundamentally change the current state practice of not allowing towers on watershed land, state parks or state forests. Passage of the provision would lead to the construction of communications towers that would seriously damage wildlife habitat by causing forest fragmentation; cell towers are also a hazard to migrating birds.

The bill was recently passed by the Energy and Technology Committee, though not without dissent caused by the cell tower provision. It may soon come before the full General Assembly for a vote. You can read more about the proposal and the debate, here.

Let your representatives in Hartford know that this provision is a bad idea. Ask them to strike it from the bill. Tell them, �I am opposed to the provision in SB 447 that would allow cell towers to be built on state parkland.�

You can find your local representatives, and their contact information, on this page: http://www.cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp

Connecticut Audubon Society is following the progress of several other bills in Hartford as well. You can learn more on our new Tracking Legislation webpage, here.

The full text of the bill is here.

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Additional comments were offered by Tom Andersen and appear below�..

There is a general principal and there are specific reasons for keeping cell towers out of parks. The general principal is that parks are reserved for park purposes. That's the law. We don't allow commercial operations in parks because they are not parks uses. Parks in Connecticut and most other states are sacrosanct. For someone to say that cell towers in parks are acceptable because we all use cell phones would be like saying gas stations are OK in parks because we all drive and use gas.

The specific reason we are concerned involves the protection of habitat. A cell tower requires about five acres, a chain link fence and a concrete pad covering most of that five acres. It obviously damages whatever five acres it is located on but it also fragments the forest, which leads to changes in the composition of plants and wildlife. It makes it easier for invasive plants to move in, which crowds out native plants. It makes it easier for less specialized birds to move in � crows and cowbirds, for example � and damages the habitat of birds that nest in the forest interior. The towers themselves are a hazard to birds, which are often killed when they fly into them. http://fairfield.patch.com/blog_posts/keep-cell-towers-out-of-state-parks

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Additional information on the issue of cell phone towers can be found at �..

Wireless advances could mean no more cell towers - USATODAY.com NEW YORK � As cellphones have spread, so have large cell towers � those unsightly stalks of steel topped by transmitters and other electronics that sprouted across the country over the last decade. If the technology overcomes some hurdles, it could upend the wireless industry and offer seamless service, with fewer dead spots and faster data speeds. Some big names in the wireless world are set to demonstrate "small cell" technologies at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest cellphone trade show, which starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain. "We see more and more towers that become bigger and bigger, with more and bigger antennas that come to obstruct our view and clutter our landscape and are simply ugly," said Wim Sweldens, president of the wireless division of Alcatel-Lucent, the French-U.S. maker of telecommunications equipment. "What we have realized is that we, as one of the major mobile equipment vendors, are partially if not mostly to blame for this." Alcatel-Lucent will be at the show to demonstrate its "lightRadio cube," a cellular antenna about the size and shape of a Rubik's cube, vastly smaller than the ironing-board-sized antennas that now decorate cell towers. The cube was developed at the famous Bell Labs in New Jersey, birthplace of many other inventions when it was AT&T's research center. In Alcatel-Lucent's vision, these little cubes could soon begin replacing conventional cell towers. Single cubes or clusters of them could be placed indoors or out and be easily hidden from view. All they need is electrical power and an optical fiber connecting them to the phone company's network. The cube, Sweldens said, can make the notion of a conventional cell tower "go away." Alcatel-Lucent will start trials of the cube with carriers in September. The company hopes to make it commercially available next year.

For cellphone companies, the benefits of dividing their networks into smaller "cells," each one served by something like the cube antenna, go far beyond esthetics. Smaller cells mean vastly higher capacity for calls and data traffic.

Instead of having all phones within a mile or two connect to the same cell tower, the traffic could be divided between several smaller cells, so there's less competition for the cell tower's attention. Continued at �� http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2011-02-12-cell-phone-towers_N.htm

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Additional Information can be found at

Connecticut Siting Council

http://www.ct.gov/csc/site/default.asp

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States and School Districts BANNING cell towers on and around schools... ... and battles over cell towers at schools:

Updated 4/4/2012

2012 - Georgia is trying to stop cell towers on school grounds on all schools in the state,

http://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/time-sensitive-update-cell-tower-ban/
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Bill-Would-Ban-Cell-Phone-Towers-On-School-Property-20120305-pm-pk
This site has tons of information and adds current information almost daily,
http://www.getthecelloutatl.com/

2012 - Connecticut is trying to outlaw cell towers close to schools or day care centers.

http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Greenwich-delegation-backs-cell-tower-bill-3389957.php
http://www.thedailygreenwich.com/news/greenwich-reps-against-cell-towers-near-schools

2000 and 2009 - LA County School Board vote to, Prohibit cell towers near schools

http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/headlines/29may09_lausd_press_release.pdf

http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/headlines/26may09_lausd_resolution.pdf

2008 - West Linn-Wilsonville, OR school board ban cell phone towers all district schools.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/west_linnwilsonville_school_bo.html

2007 - Baltimore Legal ruling supports school cell tower ban

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-06-22/news/0706220044_1_randallstown-high-school-phone-towers-t-mobile

2010 - Bethlehem school district removed application to build cell tower on high school property

http://parentsact.weebly.com/in-the-news.html

2009 - Proposed cell tower at Tampa middle school denied

http://video.tbo.com/v/21865694/school-cell-tower-denied.htm?q=soccer

2007 - Idaho Proposed high school cell tower nixed by effective public education campaign

http://www.rense.com/general76/nix.htm

2011 - Oregon, PTA opposes cell tower construction at middle school

http://respectpdx.org/

2011 - Dekalb, Georga fights cell tower at school

https://www.change.org/petitions/no-cell-towers-on-school-grounds

2006 - Santa Cruz, CA school closes after cell tower approved at church next door

http://www.emfacts.com/2006/05/santa-cruz-preschool-closes-citing-cell-tower-radiation/

2010 - Mission District of San Francisco � T-Mobile withdrew application after public opposition to cell tower near a school

http://nocelltower1250quintara.blogspot.com/

2006 - Sunset District in San Francisco stops cell tower

http://no-celltower.com/index.php

2010 - San Francisco Board of Supervisors � Resolution regarding the Potential health impacts of wireless facilities

http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/resolutions10/r0102-10.pdf

Cell towers at schools
http://expelcelltowers.org/

http://myinclinevillage.com/2012/03/22/states-and-school-districts-banning-cell-towers-on-and-around-schools.aspx

States and School Districts BANNING cell towers on and around schools... ... and battles over cell towers at schools: Updated 4/4/2012

States and School Districts BANNING cell towers on and around schools... ... and battles over cell towers at schools:

Updated 4/4/2012