By Eliza Ridgeway

Four new cell-tower applications have been filed in Los Altos Hills as of this month, including an application from Cingular Wireless to build a 70-foot tree-style pole at town hall.

A temporary cell tower now in place at town hall, intended to test improved coverage, has resulted in inquiries from concerned neighbors, said Carl Cahill, planning director.

Cahill expects the tower at town hall to go before the planning commission for approval within the next 60 days. The proposed height is 5-feet higher than the one planned for Westwind Barn. Cahill attributed the height to the town’s intention to collocate many services on the one pole.

Cahill said that Cingular representatives have met with the town’s emergency communications committee and indicated that they would donate space on the tower for ham radio antennas. Committee members are using the temporary tower to test the compatibility of their radio signals with Cingular’s. The taller pine-pole design in the application would provide for locating two other cell providers on the tower.

Residents have raised concerns about health, aesthetics and property values. Cahill said that newer pine-tree designs improve the poles’ appearance.

“But no matter where an antenna is proposed, anybody near the antenna will likely have objections,” he said. “We’ve had a communications policy in effect since 1996 and that’s what the council is following.”

The costs of improved coverage - large, visible cell towers and radiation waves - raised questions from residents at a public hearing last month about whether the city could explore alternatives to the traditional tower development and approval process.

Those in favor and those opposed spoke about health concerns, microcellular technology and changes to the city’s approval process. Resident Ronda Brier was skeptical of the safety of cellular radiation, especially given conflicting information available to the public.

“A lot of research has been done about health hazards. My 11-year-old son is worried and I’m not quite sure what to say to him,” she said.

Resident Steve Brisco, an engineer in the portable radio business, said, “I think it’s hysteria. Any energy we get from a cell-phone tower is bupkis to what you get from putting a cell phone next to your ear.”

Bill Hammett, who manages an engineering firm that evaluates exposure from wireless and radio stations, said that typical levels from a tower are hundreds or thousands of times lower than FCC safety thresholds.

Residents also questioned whether cell providers could offer alternatives, such as microcellular systems, which work with large numbers of smaller transmitters.

Tony Kim, a Cingular representative, said microcells are too limited in range to be practical in most areas.

Some residents said the city should be more involved in selecting tower locations.

Councilman Craig Jones disagreed.

“We have providers who have been waiting to be approved,” he said. “To throw another obstacle in front of them doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”