there are three other large antennas, panel antennas, in the near vicinity, on st. mary's hospital, close to presidio, and another on the beacon storage building on geary. i still have a hope that the appellant and the parties will sit down and try to come to some agreement as well. with that, i am open to hearing the testimony now. president chiu: appellant, you have up to 10 minutes to make your case. >> good afternoon. i have lived in the richmond district for over 30 years and worked at angeles children's center. i have also been a long-time horizon customer, and received excellent voice and data reception in the neighborhood. i am here to represent those who live near the proposed facility. can people who are opposed to the placement of the antennas please stand? we are here today because the nine panel antennas proposed for this location are not necessary, not desirable, and not compatible with the predominantly residential character of our neighborhood. under section 303, the burden of proof is on verizon to demonstrate these antennas are necessary at this lo

next speaker. >> i am against antennas on kaiser hospital. please vote no. president chiu: thank you. in the other members of the public who wish to speak on behalf of the appellant? seeing none, why don't we go to the presentation by the planning department? >> my name is amory rogers. with me is the project planner on a conditional use authorization. this appeal is for the planning commission decision for wireless telecommunications on carry boulevard. a presentation will cover four topics. first, project description. second, this site as a preference one location. third, a little bit about the city process that established our preference siting criteria. fourth, the commission findings as to why they approved this cu and found this necessary, desirable, and compatible with the neighborhood. the conditional use authorization required under planning code section 303 and 209.6 require a conditional use permits for this project. the project includes nine panel antennas located on the northeast and south side of the existing mechanical penthouse. the antennas

the antennas are screened and painted. when it comes to health, the federal telecommunications act of 1996 established limits on review of wireless facilities. specifically, the law prohibited local jurisdictions from prohibiting on health concerns if they follow fcc guidelines. we go to great lengths to monitor installations, with an emphasis on exploring radiofrequency radiation. the department of health produces and the mission's report for every facility, evaluating existing emissions and proposed emissions with the proposed antennas. the same evaluation is conducted after the installation is installed to get a real reading and to monitor every two years thereafter. the guidelines cannot be exceeded and the facility would be shut down if they were. despite appellant arguments that there are conflicting arguments about health effects and impact, scientific studies have been clear. over 25,000 studies on the biological effects of r f -- rf have been published over 30 years. the largest cut 30,000 participants. after all

i support construction of more antennas on geary boulevard. it is absolutely silly to be concerned about a location that is so far away. this is over 1,000 feet away from the street. it is important for us to have capacity right now. families need to stay in contact with children and grandchildren. we are unable to get a good signal. service is going to be terrible. we need to add more antennas. the city health department has reviewed them. please approve this project. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. everybody has a cell phone. the younger generation -- everyone has one. everyone carries one for the internet. i would say it is really important. the radiation is very, very low. [unintelligible] thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> my name is nathan williams. i am a local resident. i support the antennas. i use my cell phone a lot in business and school. not only are they safe by federal standards, but that are vital for medical personnel to use to communicate in emergencies. the police station across the street will tell you t

across from where i live is the site of the antenna installation. i oppose the antenna installation there. my at&t phone is very clear. we do not need another installation diagonally across from where i live. to install across the highway [unintelligible] >> [speaking foreign language] >> on this morning, there was a beautiful blue and they said help yourself, help yourself. they wanted my signature and unbeknownst to me, i signed and i got suckered in. there was a young fellow there and he looked very cool. i did not know what was going on and i was coerced. i did not know. [laughter] i suppose. -- i suppose. -- oppose. [laughter] >> good afternoon, commissioners. i have been a resident of for over 20 years. throughout this, i was never notified by at&t and the the antenna proposal. furthermore, san francisco's emergency department, function number to already stated the cellular service is prone to disruption due to the overloaded system at the time of disaster. it may not be reliable and dependable at such a time. therefore, how can at&t claim the

i know it is antennas that are not yours. but is there sound from your antennas? maybe you can address that. i know you offer readings for radio frequencies. i do not know if you have sound readings. could you address those? >> i am not certain where they're building is, but i am happy to look at where it is in relation to ours. there could be air conditioning units. there could be all sorts of things on the roof. if it is coming from the veriaon zon antenna, that would not be our issue, but our equipment is not going on the roof. it is inside the building. there would not be added noise coming off the equipment. all of the noise that does or that is limited should be in compliance with city code. that might be an issue for a different -- commissioner borden: i just wanted to clarify. >> i am happy to look at what is causing that. if we can be of help, we certainly will. commissioner borden: would sound the part of such a reading? >> part of the radiofrequency reports we do involve noise. they are accounted for both. commissioner borden: just to let the person kno

>>and oppose the construction of the antenna at the site. thank you. >> [speaking for an language] >> i live on raymond avenue. i have been living there for 35 years. >> i have an at&t phone at my home and i have a good reception. she spoke in a dialect i do not comprehend. >> [speaking for an language -- speaking at a foreign language] >> i have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years. i have been a customer of at&t for more than a decade and the reception has been very good. i wish that they can reconsider to move construction to a different site that has less impact on minor deborah said. -- on our neighborhood. and i also wish that they can't understand the needs of our neighborhood residents. not just regarding -- not just the neighbors living on leland avenue. they can move the site to 250 tunnel ave. i wish they would accept our suggestion. i am going back to 199 a leland avenue. commissioner miguel: [reading names] line up here. >> [speaking foreign language] >> respected the commission members, good afternoon. thank you for giving m

i oppose the proposed construction of at&t's antenna at that site. there are actually quite a few community members close by. there is a child-care center, a school, and such. i wish that they can relocate to a further location. thank you. commissioner miguel: are there any additional speakers? >> i support to the neighbors on this. please sign a conditional use. thank you. commissioner miguel: are there any additional speakers? public comment is closed. if i could ask the public -- if i could ask the project's sponsors to come up. was there bilingual at the booth at your leland avenue fair? >> there was not. commissioner miguel: that's all i want to know. it my advice to you is if you do things like that in the future, take that into consideration. i think that was a bit of a faux pas on at&t's part. there was a comment regarding the equipment to be placed in the garage. is or is that not or replacing a current legal parking space? >> the building was designed for seniors. the garage is an extra-large space for wheelchair accessibility and we placed

the question remains, are of these antennas necessary? where for all of the disgruntled customers complain about service? there should be at least a consensus on the neighborhood. currently, the data is conflicting. more important, the evidence is lacking. based on these premises, verizon should not be granted a permit at this time. please vote to deny them the permit. thank you. >> thank you, next speaker. >> good afternoon supervisors. i am with the russian hill community association. i am here to lend my support. i would like to speak about one reason that the proposed for this facility is neither desirable or compatible and compatible with a hospital setting and this is largely a residential community. warless facility's present a lecture for fire hazards that should require extreme caution in deciding where they should be located. this includes photos of wireless facilities that were set on fire during routine maintenance visits. they were taken by media outlets, many because of the spectacular nature of these images presented by the

this took place in the building that hosted a number of teen mobile antennas in the basement and the roof. for the resulting investigation is not yet in. they were determined to play a role in the fire and we would not even know it. the fire department does not reflect the fact this is the san francisco fire department and the situation list from january, 2009 to december 31st. as you can see -- >> thank you very much. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. under federal law, verizon is required to prove that the location is the least intrusive means for addressing a significant staff have to of the application before the planning commission contained no discussion of alternative locations that verizon had located and why for these locations one-off viable. in its submission to the board, verizon presents six alternative locations with exclamations, why these buildings are not had a lot defeasible. however, they do not mention the alternative of using the already existing network of utility pole mounted antenna is in the richmond district. in fact, there are already 14 located

. -- move the antenna to the waste site. as you know, the commission continued to the item to today's date. [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] >> it during the time from july 28th to october 6th today, at&t continued its outreach efforts to the community. we participated at the leland avenue fair on september 26th where we had a booth of materials and language as well as a petition where we had over 50 signatures in support of the site. at&t usage for self phones have gone up exponentially. we have thrown out 8000% over the last 12 quarters. but in everyday life, especially in district 10 where at&t provides self funds to the community ambassador program, it is a program that safely escorts residents place to place in the bayview and it was created in response to the crime and high- profile attacks on asian seniors that began well over a year ago. we have a particular need. we know from their cell phone use we have problems and our coverage we would like to address, but we also know from a more technical

one location, or the highest priority for these antennas in the city. supervisor cohen if there is any action the supervisors could take in the future if they did not like the existing locations of the antennas to the staff advised the board that the wireless citing guidelines is in the document that was developed through interactions with the board of supervisors, which resolutions and in response to how they settle appeals. and the board could suggest a further refinement of the guidelines through a resolution or they could codify the guidelines in the planning code if they wish, and you might appreciate that as a commission because it is very controversial here. the hearing ended with a request to continue the item from the district supervisor. he stated he would accept an offer that verizon, the project sponsor, may. they said that would make all their proprietary data on cell coverage and capacity to a neutral third-party engineering firm to analyze and weigh in on their data. this party would analyze the data for the appellate and the board, and t

we are seeking your approval to install a 12-panel antenna wireless facility atop the kabuki hotel. this is an area regularly used for cultural events and is a high-traffic area for us. i would like to thank planning department staff for their efforts to help direct and design this location and to help make sure that it is compatible with the neighborhood. as you are aware, the san francisco market area continues to see a very steep, steady incline in data traffic, and with the introduction of the iphone 4, the upgrade, we are continuing to see that and do not anticipate there being any fall-off in the future. this is an essential site for at&t for our coverage and capacity, and we would appreciate your support and approval on this side, and we are here answer any questions you may have. commissioner miguel: thank you. is there any public comment on this item? if not, public comment is closed. commissioner moore. commissioner moore: i have a question -- why is item four on consent, and a similar items are not? >> essentially, there was no opposition, and i believe the staff report i

so you may want to build some more antennas, not here, but somewhere else.[laughter] my neighborhood. >> thank you. >> commissioners, there's a motion and a second to approve as proposed, with conditions. [roll taken] >> so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously. we are now on item 15, case number 2008.1395 x at 15th street, request for large project authorization. president olague: just so the public knows, we will be hearing the broderick street item next, so we will be taking it out of order. we're hearing this one now, though. >> good afternoon, president olague and members of the commission. i'm kimberly from the planning department staff. you have before you a request for large project authorization with exceptions, pursuant to planning codes 329. the subject property is located on the southwest corner of south van ness avenue and 15th street in the urban mixed-use zoning district. and a height district. the proposed project would replace a vacant lot, formerly a gas station, with a mixed-use building consisting of 40 residential units, f

we're putting 650-pound antenna's here, and the building department will come out to investigate, looking at the report from the third party architectural engineer to determine if this is structurally sound. if it is not we will remedy this, and make certain that this is up to code. >> commissioner antonini? commissioner antonini: my understanding of the conditional use is that the item has to be necessary or desirable, not both. the demand is growing geometrically and telecommunications, for obvious reasons, two commissioners are using the i passed to go through -- ipad to go through the document. when i was first on the commission, none of the information was available, electronically. the usage is much higher. this is changing almost daily. there will be the need for more antennas, and as far as the city having to get involved or regulate something outside of their jurisdiction, i believe this is a waste of time and energy. this is a federally regulated industry and they have the levels they feel comfortable with with nondiscrimination against competitors, whether or not there will be

the equipment will be placed on the second floor. -- we are planning to place six 50 lb antennas. when we file for a building permit is face to. as part of the construction phase, we provide extensive information including a structural engineering report from a licensed professional engineer. if at that time changes are required by the department of building inspection, we will of course comply. as you know, at&t is legitimately working to upgrade its network to meet these telecommunications demands within san francisco. it is doing so in a manner that takes prudent and careful consideration of the aesthetic impact of the facility and the values the city seeks to promote. this application was consistent with city land use regulations and the wtf guidelines. this would be the least intrusive means by which at&t could fill the gap in the area. i ask the planning commission to approve a conditional use permit before you today. we are available to answer any questions you might have. president olague: will be limiting public comment to 2 minutes. based on the number of speaking -- spe

hearings and understandably, you are frustrated without a comprehensive plan for a data transmission antenna facility. on our street, larkin street, at the crack of dawn at 6:30 a.m., healthy and conscious people are going up and down the street to broadway doing their jog before the go to work, going to either of the gyms two blocks away and later, before noon, we see mama s and paps and -- papas and nannies pushing their strollers going to play time at the park. this is an r3 busy street that the church lives on, that the church is on and so do i.. -- so i. -- so do i. please denied a permit in a residential zone. thank you. -- please deny a permit in the residential zone. >> i work in the area and i agree with people who oppose the cell phone towers. there does not seem to be enough that the church can structurally supported the towers and also if there are places the towers could go that are in a commercial zone, that makes more sense to me that a residential neighborhood. thank you. >> our next speakers. >> good afternoon. having grown up next door to the church at 2057 larkin -- i have

and each are building antennas. with 20 of them, it is the most powerful radio telescope. the plan to add 46 more. that will enable them to see the formation of the first stars in the universe. the telescope will enable astronomers to see the cosmos as it has never been seen before. >> quite incredible. a quick reminder before we go of our main story. an appeals court in italy throat amanda knox's conviction. she and her co-defendant are set free. four years after their permit was found dead. knox collapsed in tears when the verdict was read and left the prison. you can always get constant updates on the case and more on our website. to reach me and most of the team, go to twitter @ kattykaybbc. see you back here tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we're developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us ge