Subject: Omnipoint cell phone tower delayed in PA (Ciccone)..
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 131543 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: emfguru
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.......Hats off!! to Cheryl and her husband....!!!
(.....Some good advice in the end paragraphs....)
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com
...................People are more important than profits.................
Missed opportunity...
$$$$$ We could have changed the corrupted system!! $$$$$
McCain !!
DO YOU KNOW OF OTHERS WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST???
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 13:59:25 EDT
From: Cheryl Ciccone
To: rbeavers@llion.org
Subject: HAVERFORD PRESS: Zoners Keep Hearing Open - Omnipoint Update in PA
Re: Haverford Residents vs Omnipoint Update (Haverford, Pennsylvania)
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Thank you, all, for your support. We have won round 1 in our local battle
in Haverford just outside of Philadelphia, PA. Here is an article from the
HAVERFORD PRESS, Wednesday, April 26, 2000:
"Zoners Keep Hearing Open for Antennae at St. George's Church"
By Cathy Sutton
Omnipoint Communications, which wants to install cell phone antennae in the
bell tower at St. George's Episcopal Church, 1 W Ardmore Ave., thought it
would close its case for a special exception, April 18. The Zoning Board,
however, kept the case open until the Cell on Wheels (COW) tower, approved
to be installed at the Haverford State Hospital, was up and running.
Omnipoint attorney Elizabeth Whitmer offered to give the township the
results of a "drive test" from the COW tower to prove the need for the bell
tower antennae.
Attorney F. Emmet Ciccone who is representing his wife, Cheryl, and several
residents opposing the St. George's plan asked that the record remain open
until the COW tower was installed.
Ms. Whitmer said Omnipoint just received the building permit and has up to
one year to install the COW tower.
"If Omnipoint has no urgency in erecting the COW, it can wait on the St.
George's tower, too" said Zoning Chairwoman Evelyn Yancoskie.
During cross examination of Myrlande Pierre, a radio frequency engineer,
Ciccone obtained information about alternate sites. Ms. Pierre said that
there were alternate sites to St. George, but for one reason or another they
were turned down.
He asked where they were. She requested to look at her notes. Her notes
then had to be entered into evidence and confusion began. Her notes
indicated that antennae were considered for the 5-story office building and
power station at the state hospital (since approved); the Quadrangle, and
utility poles along Darby Creek Road and Terra Alta Cirle, Williams and
Darby Roads.
Her notes, however, were confusing to the zoners, although she said she
understood what she wrote. She said that the original drive test showed
holes in the system where people would lose phone contact. A drive test is
performed by using a crane hoisting antennae to the height of a proposed
tower, and a person testing the reception using two cell phones and a
computer.
Ciccone cross-examined her on the testimony given last month about a drive
taken by his wife with an Omnipoint phone that didn't lose its signal.
Ms. Pierre said that the drive was taken after 8pm, in the winter with no
leaves and vegetation interfering with the radio waves. She said the call
was barely within range of towers operating in Radnor Township. "She was
lucky," Ms. Pierre said.
She said Mrs. Ciccone would have lost the signal if she had taken the same
drive between 4-7pm, in the summer. She said that the COW tower at the
state hospital is still not adequate to cover Ardmore Avenue and Darby Road.
Gerald O'Leary of East Eagle Road said he feared his 3-year-old son, who
attends the daycare center at the church, would become a cancer victim
because not enough is known about the radio frequency and power of
cell/digital antennae.
He said the $1,500 a month rent the church is going to get from Omnipoint is
not worth the health risk of children nor the drop in township tax revenues
when real estate market values drop.
Mrs. Ciccone of West Ardmore Avenue said that her family is planning on
selling their home should the antennae be approved. She said she can see
the bell tower from her bedroom window.
"This is a compromise on my freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness as I will live with fear within my own home.
Also opposing the antennae were Donna Howarth of Delmont Road, Newtown
Square; Michele McKee of Cornell Circle, Marple; Tim Walsh of Darby Road and
Patrick Clancy of East Benedict Road, who all have children at the daycare
center, and Angela Murphy of Drexel Hill, who works at the daycare center.
Jim Schwaartz of Shelbourne Road, who also has a child at the center and
opposes the antennae, asked the zoners, "How does this benefit the township
and its residents?"
"We are here to see that the township zoning code is adhered to," said Mrs.
Yancoskie. "What is best is not a fact that we can decide."
Susan Africa of Sulgrave Road (adjacent to the proposed site) told the board
that if the antennae is approved, there will be 13 families that will pull
their children out of the daycare center. She noted that she home-schools
her children and others; and one family won't allow their boys to go to her
home because, "this is perceived as a problem."
She also noted that she had her home appraised recently and, should the
antennae be approved, will do so after and, "hold someone accountable," if
there is a drop in her property value.
###
Editorial note: This was the fourth zoning board meeting; Several other
witnesses and other testimony were offered in prior meetings covered by this
same reporter. If you do not have a copy of the articles or have any
further questions I can answer, please Email me at
Cheryl_Ciccone@Hotmail.com.
There is another article from another newspaper I will share tomorrow when I
have time for the keystrokes. As I mentioned previously, my husband and I
will be preparing a legal brief to file in this particular case. When
complete, we will make it available to benefit others. I hope you will
learn from our experience.
Some 'golden nuggets' we've learned from our experience:
* It is IMPORTANT that you know what criteria your local zoning board or
municipality is using in determining approval or denial of these
applications when fighting these battles on a case by case basis! Then, you
can structure many of your concerns to meet the criteria and standards of
determination.
* Inform your neighbors, EVERYONE in the area who will be affected, local
newspapers, politicians and media reporters!
* Use this network of support to build your case. (We shared several
reports and precautionary principle strategy found through our network of
support --EMF Guru, EMR Network, CCWTI and personal mentors-- with over 250
people in our neighborhood and parents of children in the church daycare.
* Learn the right questions to ask for cross examination. If you cannot
get an attorney involved, learn from my experience and any other you can get
your hands on!
* What is reasonable access? Find out from your local zoning authority
what towers are already in existence: location, provider, height,
frequency, watts, zoning classification, population density. Map it out.
God Bless and Pass the Ammunition!
Cheryl Ciccone
33 W Ardmore Avenue
Havertown, PA 19083
(610) 446-4743 home
(610) 449-4963 home fax
Cheryl_Ciccone@Hotmail.com
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Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com