Petition to move the proposed Lang Ranch Verizon Wireless Facility/Antenna

We, the undersigned, represent Lang Ranch home owners, residents, and citizens of Thousand Oaks opposed to the proposed placement of a Verizon Wireless Antenna in close proximity to the homes and wildlife of Lang Ranch.

We, the undersigned, oppose the proposed Verizon wireless facility/antenna for reasons including, but not limited, to the following:

Intrusion into Residential Areas 
The wireless antenna is proposed to be built in the heart of our neighborhood and in close proximity to homes. It should be moved elsewhere. If this wireless facility/antenna is built, a precedent is set for wireless facilities/antenna in every Thousand Oaks neighborhood. Moreover, once built, more telecommunications companies may be able co-locate to the facility/antenna in the future.

Diminished Property Values and Aesthetics
Lang Ranch is a beautiful neighborhood with buried utility lines. A cell phone antenna, especially one that will be visible (whether made to look like a cylinder or panels on a light pole with additional vents) will mar the beauty of the neighborhood and decrease its desirability for residents and homebuyers alike. According to a 2005 study published in the Appraisal Journal, “the results of the sales analysis show prices of properties were reduced by as much as 21% after a wireless transmitter was built in the neighborhood.”

Environmental Threat for Wildlife 
Eagle Ridge homes, the Summit homes, Verdigris homes, open space, and a trail head are immediately adjacent to the proposed cell facility, as are dozens of species of wildlife. A recent review of the literature by the Bombay Natural History Society found 593 studies showing the negative impact of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from cell phone towers on birds, bees, wildlife, and plants. As local stewards of the trail and open space in Lang Ranch, it is our responsibility to protect the flora and fauna from the “downward scatter” of wireless facility’s radiation and its audio component effects.

Health Hazards  
“Children exposed to EMFs (electromagnetic fields) are especially vulnerable” (European Parliament Resolution of April 2, 2009). While the Telecommunications Act of 1996 may prohibit challenges of “undesirable health effects,” communities in the United States have banned or are banning cell towers near schools because of the hazards they pose to children. “Children are at the greatest risk, due to their thinner skulls, and rapid rate of growth” (GeoEngineering Watch). Studies downplaying health hazards were conducted on adults, not on children. Hundreds of children live within feet of the proposed site.

As the long-term impact of cell phone towers on neighborhoods, wildlife, and individuals is still being studied and many studies are inconclusive, we call for the need for extreme precaution. Therefore, the City of Thousand Oaks should prevent the wireless facility from being constructed in the proposed area and move it elsewhere.

We understand that the federal courts have already ruled that a municipality has no obligation to allow intrusive cell phone tower installations anywhere within its borders when adequate coverage already exists. Verizon Wireless and other telecommunications companies should be required to find a more appropriate location in an area which does not have this great an impact on home values, potential health risks and exhaust all alternative scenarios.

We join the growing coalition of citizens in Lang Ranch and Thousand Oaks who are standing up to the intrusion of cell phone towers into residential areas. We urge you to support the residents of Lang Ranch and prevent the placement of a wireless facility/antenna at the proposed site.

The proposed site can and should be moved.

Sincerely,

The concerned homeowners, residents, parents, and others who have voluntarily signed this petition.