Doesn't it seem like they're making too much of this? How bad can a few panel antennas on an exsisting water tower be? But yet they're bringing up the health issues again and at one point in the article they're talking about it affecting the quality of life and property values??? Come on people. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050826/OPINION/508260374/1029/POLITICS
That article is full of scare tactics, but we do not know if there are health risks, it could be like Vioxx, or asbestos, or nuclear fallout that the government thought was safe also. What a bunch of c**p. I know the antennas on the existing water tower will also have an impact on migratory birds. I have worked on hundreds on Cell Site, Communication towers, and the only sites I have seen much in the way of dead birds on it, were towers that had falcons that like to eat the birds on the tower.
I can't believe this stuff again! I bet all these NIMBYs have cell phones, and they also probably complain about service in their neighborhood.You get far less radiation from a tower than you get from the phone itself, and from your microwave oven. If they don't want towers then everyone in that neighborhood needs to terminate their cellular service. They want the phones to work, but don't want the equipment installed. You can't have it both ways.
I think a lot of it stems from the fact that many people don't have a clue about how all the technology around them works. Aside from that, if they want to talk about quality of life and property values, have you ever taken a close look at all the telephone and electric wires on the average street. Take a look at this picture I took. Which is uglier, the tiny cell antenna on top of the tower or all the wires hanging in the air much closer to the ground.
First of all, I know that area like the back of my hand, since one of my best friends lived in that tract (it's the "I" tract, Idlewild, Idunna, etc.). While the water tower definitely stands out, it's not PRETTY. I don't see how adding cell panels to it will make it uglier. Second of all, there is absolutely zero coverage in there due to topography. These people need to get ladders and get over themselves.
Just once I'd like to hear one of these NIMBYS say they're going to stop using cell phones altogether because it could be a health risk. But no, instead they want to blame the tower and keep their phones.