Dear Neighbors,
The City of Los Altos has drafted a proposed Urgency Ordinance. It is extremely weak and will NOT prevent AT&T/Verizon from installing the first wave of 16 cell towers near homes and schools in North Los Altos, allowing for future cell companies to do the same all across Los Altos. What can we do?
1) Email the City Council, Manager & Attorney: council@losaltosca.gov, cjordan@losaltosca.gov, christopher.diaz@bbklaw.com and let them know that this ordinance is NOT stringent enough. Specifically, please highlight that we need 1,000 feet setbacks and 1,500 feet distances between poles to protect our neighborhoods amongst other amendments needed to strengthen the ordinance.
2) Attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 30th at 6pm, show your support and speak up! Encourage our City Council members to be brave and courageous!
****** Please feel free to use the following email draft ******
Dear City Council, Manager and Attorney,
I believe that the proposed Urgency Ordinance is extremely weak and doesn't adequately protect our homes and schools. The current proposal does NOT address (1) setbacks and (2) pole distance. In our small town of Los Altos, every home has to strictly adhere to setback guidelines. Where are these guidelines when wireless companies want to place cell nodes/towers all over our neighborhoods? At a minimum, I want the City Council to include at least a 1,000 foot setback from homes and schools. Again, I do not believe that cell nodes/towers belong near our home and schools. In fact, Mill Valley bans cell towers altogether in residential zones. Additionally, I believe we need greater separation between cell towers. The current proposal is 500 feet. Many cities across California including Calabasas, Petaluma, Fairfax, Mill Valley, Suisun, Sonoma City, and San Ramon have all adopted 1,500 feet between cell towers. Why is Los Altos proposing a distance 3x less than than other cities?
There are many other ways that the Urgency Ordinance can be strengthened, however, I specifically identify these two key components because they're the fundamental in protecting Los Altos from cell nodes/towers being installed next to our homes and schools.
Thank you,
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