Parents, Students Protest Plans For Cell Phone Tower At Catholic School
RANCHO CUCAMONGA (CBSLA.com) — Concerned residents of Rancho Cucamonga are sounding off about the installation of a proposed cell phone tower at Sacred Heart Parish School.
Dozens of local parents and their children were on hand for a public hearing at Rancho Cucamonga City Hall in about the proposed installation of a 50-foot-high Verizon cell phone tower at the campus on Foothill Blvd. near the 15 Freeway.
The city planning commission voted 4-0 to approve a request to modify the initial proposal by moving the tower's location to the north end of the Sacred Heart parking lot.
Upon hearing of the proposal in February, some parents reportedly threatened to remove their students from the school altogether over concerns their children could be exposed to radiation.
An online petition has also been launched calling on supporters to demand the school abandon plans for the tower.
Officials with the Diocese of San Bernardino have assured the public that the cell tower would not pose any health threat.
Parents told members of the City Council Planning Commission they would have appreciated a role in providing input on the plan.
"We were only brought in after the fact, after the permit was given," said one resident. "Can anybody tell us why you did not involve us in that conversation?"
Other school districts in Southern California and statewide that have hosted a cell phone tower on or near school sites have been paid as much as $2,000 per month for each of the hosting sites.
