UPDATE: Buena Vista Residents Protest Against Cell Phone Tower Proposal

Holding signs decrying the city's "lack of transparency in its decision making process," about two dozen Buena Vista residents—some with kids in tow—rallied outside Walnut Creek's City Hall on Tuesday, raising concerns about a proposal to place a wireless communications tower on a Catholic church-owned knoll above their neighborhood.

The protesters brought their complaints in the City Council chambers, using the public comment portion of the meeting to air grievances about the city's choice of a particular consultant to review AT&T's proposal and questioning whether the company has fully explored the potential for finding other sites for their 20-foot tower. 

"We would like to see  an open an transparent review of the process," said Mardi Veiluva, leader of the Walnut Creek Buena Vista neighborhood group.

Veiluva alleges that AT&T has unfair influence over decisions at Walnut Creek City Hall. These concerns in part come from the fact that Ken Mintz, the AT&T executive in charge of pushing for cell phone towers in Contra Costa County, is chairman of the board of the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce and also serves on the board of directors of the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce.  

Mintz's chamber ties, Veiluva and other Buena Vista residents say, have raised concerns about "his involvement in local business organizations with close ties to the City Council in order to influence approval of cell-tower applications."

An AT&T spokesman has denied that Mintz's chamber ties gives him unfair advantage over Walnut Creek affairs. 

“AT&T has been part of the Walnut Creek and San Ramon communities for decades," Lane Kasselman said Monday. "Thousands of our employees and their families live, work and play throughout the region. Our employees participate in service organizations, chambers of commerce, school boards, Little Leagues, Scout troops, PTAs, bake sales and almost every other type of civic engagement you would expect from active members of the community."

Back in November, call for a moratorium on more cell phone tower construction, thinking it would give the city a chance to review its ordinance on wireless communication facilities in residential areas.

But the City Council decided hold off on any decision on a moratorium and instead asked staff to commission an engineering study that looks at whether the St. Stephen's church property is the only place for AT&T to build an antenna to provide better cell phone coverage to residents of northwest Walnut Creek.

Because the concerns of Buena Vista residents were not on Tuesday's meeting agenda,  city council members legally could not respond or take any action. But City Manager Ken Nordoff was able to provide an update on what steps the city has taken to hire an outside consultant.

Nordhoff said the city received two bids to do the work, and chose the Los Angeles-based Kramer Firm Inc., belonging to Jonathan Kramer. The Kramer Firm says it has 20 ,years' experience helping "hundreds of local and state government planning agencies process wireless tower applications," according to its website.

Nordhoff said Kramer is set to begin work next week and would meet with residents to hear their concerns about the cell phone tower for the St. Stephen's property.

But Buena Vista neighbors question the choice of Jonathan Kramer over another consultant, Center for Municipal Solutions, based in North Carolina, which helps local governments regulate communications towers and wireless facilities. 

Buena Vista resident Liz Menkes said the Center for Municipal Solutions is known for giving communities control over the process while Kramer's firm has a reputation for "going along with the wireless industry."

 The debate about the St. Stephen's proposal is yet another chapter in a growing debate about how Walnut Creek deals with the proliferation of wireless communication antennas. Like other communities, Walnut Creek faces a growing demand for faster, more efficient wireless service for cell phones, laptop computers and GPS monitors.

Buena Vista residents say AT&T's proposed tower at St. Stephen's Church would rise about 100 feet from nearby homes. Residents also are concerned about AT&T’s recent announcement that it will add 55 cell sites in the San Francisco Bay area in 2011. 

“If cities do not require a rigorous, open and independent review of alternatives, there is the strong possibility of cell towers being installed in inappropriate locations," said Veiluva. “We need a balanced and transparent approach by cities to ensure that cell towers are installed in the least intrusive locations in order to preserve and protect our residential neighborhoods.”