By Megan Ma

After nearly two hours of intense discussion last week, the Los Altos Planning Commission voted 4-3 to approve a MetroPCS plan to erect a wireless antenna and conceal it within a cross atop St. William Church on South El Monte Avenue.

In the end, despite a flurry of health concerns offered by opponents, commissioners were constrained by federal guidelines that require a decision based solely on design criteria. A city

ordinance states that a roof-mounted antenna must look aesthetically pleasing and meld into the overall design of the building.

Community members who oppose the placement of the antenna at the church have 15 days to appeal the decision.

Some neighbors and parents of students at Covington Elementary School, adjacent to the church, vehemently oppose the erection of the antenna, contending that its radio-frequency emissions are potentially harmful to schoolchildren and residents.

It requires a minimum of two city councilmembers to bring the item before the council and open the item for discussion. The council can then approve or deny the permit.

Planning commissioners agreed with James Walgren, community development director, that the issue’s controversy

erupted primarily due to health concerns.

“If this had just been a cross with no cell-phone antenna, it would have been approved right away,” Walgren said.

Last month the seven commissioners postponed a final vote until planning staff could gather more information. Opponents’ concerns included noise levels at the church, emission levels at the ground and two-story level and the possibility of long-term health effects.

In its report last week, the planning staff, headed by Walgren, concluded that exposure limits and noise levels were well within the federal health guidelines for emission levels and the city’s noise ordinance.

William Hammett, a professional radio engineer hired by the city, calculated the exposure level at the ground nearest the property line of the school at 0.25 percent of the permitted federal exposure standard. At the two-story height of the nearest school building, the exposure limit was at 0.53 of the standard.

Federal statutes deem improved cell-phone coverage a community benefit, a general rule local governments have had a hard time overturning.

“The levels here comply to the standard easily 100 times over,” Hammett said.

Because the numbers fall below the federal standard defining an unhealthy exposure level, the planning commission, as with other local government bodies, is restricted from denying a use permit based on health concerns. The proposed antenna-cross, rendered at 10 feet tall, also meets city zoning codes.

Despite Hammett’s reassurances, commissioners weighed the impact of health concerns for more than an hour. Several worried parents spoke, pointing to incomplete health studies.

Commissioner Kitty Uhlir asserted that the antenna would not provide a public benefit, despite what federal law defines. Parents selecting a school for their children might view Covington as undesirable, she said. She voiced concern that approving a permit could set a disturbing precedent in which church crosses were erected simply to conceal cell antennas.

“I don’t like the idea of using religious symbols for commercial purposes. Now when I see a cross, I may question whether it’s a disguise,” Uhlir said.

Elena Shea, PTA president, asked the commission to place the antenna elsewhere.

“Isn’t there any other location to place this? Why put it by a school?” she asked.

Commissioner Randall Hull said it was a difficult decision, but in the end he couldn’t find a reason to deny the permit.

“I think they (other commissioners) did the best job they could. No matter how we argue the point of what we don’t know, if it meets federal levels, we have to trust what they tell us,” he said.

Commissioner Phoebe Bressack, who voted to deny the permit, based her decision on aesthetics. “I simply don’t like it,” she said.

MetroPCS spokesman Tom Spaulding said his company’s placement of the antenna would provide better cell-phone coverage for those driving down Foothill Expressway near El Monte Avenue.