Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Don't worry, old-timer, cell phones don't cause cancer

Low-income seniors misinformed about rooftop work?

Sorrento [cellular] Tower, July 23
Sorrento [cellular] Tower, July 23

A little before 7:30 a.m. on July 23, a crane as well as eight commercial and flatbed trucks were parked in the middle of the street in front of Sorrento Tower, a 14-story low-income senior apartment building at 2875 Cowley Way.

They sort of look like solar panels from a distance

I overheard a resident telling the traffic-control guy that the crane was lifting solar panels up to the roof. He then said to me, “They’re putting solar panels up on the building, to keep it cool. That’s where I live.” Nine other residents believed the same thing.

When I asked several workers about the solar panels, one of them replied, “No, we’re actually putting antennas up for Verizon so they can have better service around here.” After he confirmed that it was for a cell tower, he then said, “We’ve already had a couple of people ask us, 'Doesn’t that give you cancer?' I said, 'No, it doesn’t. You’re not getting cancer from your cell phone are you?'”

After my conversations with Sorrento Tower residents and workers, I asked the building's manager, Diane Shull, whether solar panels or antennas were being installed.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I'm not sure how Verizon got involved in this conversation but they have nothing to do with the project,” she said. I again asked her to clarify if it was cell-tower-related or not and she said, “It’s cell-related but no solar panels are involved; it’s to cosmetically cover the cell tower [on Sorrento Tower's roof].”

I asked Shull if she had any idea why some of her tenants were so certain that solar panels were being lifted to the roof. She said, “We always notify them when work is being done.”

A document search turned up a city-issued permit in June for a construction change to a prior project permit issued to Near-Cal Corp in March 2015 for an AT&T cell tower. The scope of work for the latest permit includes a new antenna screen and a new electrical service panel; the prior permit was for installation of new equipment cabinets, panel and GPS antennas, and two new 200-amp electrical services for a cell site.

I also found other Sorrento Tower cell-tower applications and permits going as far back as 2003 from Sprint, T-mobile, Clearwire (before the Sprint merger), Modeo, Cricket, WesTower Communications, and American Tower Corporation.

Cell towers and other wireless infrastructure may accelerate in San Diego due to new California legislation (Assembly Bill 57). As of January 2016, wireless infrastructure is given automatic approval by the state if local municipalities don’t move fast enough. It also appears to give applicants a free pass on environmental concerns as only they can extend the deadline.

Within AB 57, it states, “The Legislature finds and declares that a wireless telecommunications facility has a significant economic impact in California and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is a matter of statewide concern.”

In other words, statewide interests trump local concerns when it comes to cell towers.

About the worker saying “Verizon antennas” instead of AT&T antennas, it’s not that odd when you consider that AT&T paid $2.35 billion for access to Verizon service areas in 2009.

As I watched the crane take its last load to an orange-vested worker atop the tower around 4:30 p.m., a resident asked me what they were doing. I told him they were lifting antennas for a cell tower. When I asked him if it helped make his service better, he laughed as he said, “No, no, no, it doesn’t. I mean, you know, we’re just the antenna for other people. It makes our service worse.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024
Sorrento [cellular] Tower, July 23
Sorrento [cellular] Tower, July 23

A little before 7:30 a.m. on July 23, a crane as well as eight commercial and flatbed trucks were parked in the middle of the street in front of Sorrento Tower, a 14-story low-income senior apartment building at 2875 Cowley Way.

They sort of look like solar panels from a distance

I overheard a resident telling the traffic-control guy that the crane was lifting solar panels up to the roof. He then said to me, “They’re putting solar panels up on the building, to keep it cool. That’s where I live.” Nine other residents believed the same thing.

When I asked several workers about the solar panels, one of them replied, “No, we’re actually putting antennas up for Verizon so they can have better service around here.” After he confirmed that it was for a cell tower, he then said, “We’ve already had a couple of people ask us, 'Doesn’t that give you cancer?' I said, 'No, it doesn’t. You’re not getting cancer from your cell phone are you?'”

After my conversations with Sorrento Tower residents and workers, I asked the building's manager, Diane Shull, whether solar panels or antennas were being installed.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I'm not sure how Verizon got involved in this conversation but they have nothing to do with the project,” she said. I again asked her to clarify if it was cell-tower-related or not and she said, “It’s cell-related but no solar panels are involved; it’s to cosmetically cover the cell tower [on Sorrento Tower's roof].”

I asked Shull if she had any idea why some of her tenants were so certain that solar panels were being lifted to the roof. She said, “We always notify them when work is being done.”

A document search turned up a city-issued permit in June for a construction change to a prior project permit issued to Near-Cal Corp in March 2015 for an AT&T cell tower. The scope of work for the latest permit includes a new antenna screen and a new electrical service panel; the prior permit was for installation of new equipment cabinets, panel and GPS antennas, and two new 200-amp electrical services for a cell site.

I also found other Sorrento Tower cell-tower applications and permits going as far back as 2003 from Sprint, T-mobile, Clearwire (before the Sprint merger), Modeo, Cricket, WesTower Communications, and American Tower Corporation.

Cell towers and other wireless infrastructure may accelerate in San Diego due to new California legislation (Assembly Bill 57). As of January 2016, wireless infrastructure is given automatic approval by the state if local municipalities don’t move fast enough. It also appears to give applicants a free pass on environmental concerns as only they can extend the deadline.

Within AB 57, it states, “The Legislature finds and declares that a wireless telecommunications facility has a significant economic impact in California and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is a matter of statewide concern.”

In other words, statewide interests trump local concerns when it comes to cell towers.

About the worker saying “Verizon antennas” instead of AT&T antennas, it’s not that odd when you consider that AT&T paid $2.35 billion for access to Verizon service areas in 2009.

As I watched the crane take its last load to an orange-vested worker atop the tower around 4:30 p.m., a resident asked me what they were doing. I told him they were lifting antennas for a cell tower. When I asked him if it helped make his service better, he laughed as he said, “No, no, no, it doesn’t. I mean, you know, we’re just the antenna for other people. It makes our service worse.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.