City should reconsider placement of cell tower

Imagine Redwood Middle School as it is now—a friendly and intellectually stimulating environment located in the heart of Saratoga, a suburban and especially safe town.

Now imagine it with a 97-foot cellular phone tower just 100 feet away from the school’s basketball courts.

Cell phone provider T-Mobile has proposed the construction of a wireless communication antenna right outside of Redwood, after being denied permission to build it closer to Saint Andrew’s School. The pole would provide better cellular signal in the neighborhood known as “The Golden Triangle,” which includes the streets Glen Brae and Beaumont. According to T-Mobile, the towering height is necessary to provide coverage over the tree line.

The proposed construction of such a tower has justifiably angered many citizens. The presence of a cell tower right by a middle school poses many imminent dangers, including several that the town has never faced before.

Whether cellular towers actually emit radiation has been the center of scientific debate since the invention of cell phones. With even the slightest of health risks, why would city officials consider T-Mobile’s proposal, when it could pose potential hazards to children?

In addition, the tower would pose further dangers in the case of an earthquake. The community center across the street from Redwood is the primary evacuation site the event of of a disaster at the middle school. However, with the enormous structure right nearby, the evacuation site wouldn’t be able to provide a safe escape in case of an emergency, as the tower could potentially fall on or near the center.

Along with its numerous dangers, the tower is aesthetically not in sync with the community’s rural setting. The tower would fit in well in an industrial-based city, not a town with a plethora of trees, orchards and schools.

From a political standpoint, the tower seems to violate the city’s two-story maximum residential building allowance. Just as Saratoga citizens are required by law to obey this code in order to preserve the town’s bucolic nature, T-Mobile should respect the town’s law and rural essence.

Lastly, AT&T recently announced that they would merge with T-Mobile by the next year. This will inevitably result in overlapping coverage, proving the “need” for the tower unnecessary. If anything, the city should wait until the two cellular companies officially merge to see if the cell tower is even still crucial.

Essentially, the city council members and citizens of Saratoga should evaluate and carefully consider the pros and cons of the building of the cell tower in their town, right by their children’s school. Is that extra bar of service really worth all of the potential dangers?