The La Jolla Shores Association decided nearly unanimously this week to oppose a plan for two 5G cell towers at Cliffridge Park.
Last month, Dish Network consultants delivered a presentation to the La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee about the potential towers. Several committee members, including Vice Chairwoman Janie Emerson, opposed the project and said the meeting lacked expansive public involvement.
"At Permit Review ... we told them they needed to come back with robust outreach," Emerson said at the Nov. 13 Shores Association meeting.
However, a Dish Network presenter was not at the meeting -- LJSA's last of the year -- which Emerson said was "very telling."
At the Oct. 17 PRC meeting, Maverick Becker, a consultant for the project, said Dish is in the process of building a 5G wireless network to establish "more affordable wireless services and fast connectivity for businesses, students and households."
The Cliffridge proposal would encase antennas in two 30-foot-tall foul poles on the park's lower baseball field. The park, at 8355 Cliffridge Ave., neighbors Torrey Pines Elementary School, Dan McKinney Family YMCA and Torrey Pines Church.
The foul poles, which currently stand 21 feet, previously were used by T-Mobile but were later decommissioned.
Two other recent attempts to add Dish Network towers in La Jolla met with resistance from residents concerned about the potential effects of electromagnetic radiation on children who frequent the areas.
A proposal to place antennas inside the bell tower of La Jolla Presbyterian Church was dropped following community opposition. Another proposal for a rooftop facility near Stella Maris Academy drew protests from parents and students and is in limbo.
The Shores Association board voted 11-0 to oppose cell towers near schools and playgrounds, with trustee Richard Dahlberg abstaining, citing a lack of research on electromagnetic radiation.
Rick Kent, who joined the meeting via Zoom, said he understands concerns over radiation and the Cliffridge Park project's proximity to children, but he also inquired about alternative locations.
"We need cell towers," Kent said. "Landlines are gone. Sorry folks. I live right in The Shores, right across from Scripps [Institution of Oceanography]. And I have terrible cell service."
This likely won't be the last time the topic arises at a local meeting. La Jolla Town Council President Mary Soriano said she's working on a town hall meeting about 5G towers alongside Emerson and the Coastal Coalition, which consists of leaders of San Diego's beach communities, including La Jolla, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach.
"My personal belief is that every single group needs to take a stand on this and ... continue to push hard," Emerson said. "That's how we stopped it before."
5G electromagnetic waves have a higher frequency than previous generations of wireless, which allows them to carry more information at greater speed.
Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, consist of non-ionizing, low-level radiation -- such as from phones, computers, power lines and microwaves -- and ionizing EMFs, which have much higher-level radiation, such as from sunlight and X-rays.
The highest 5G frequency ranges from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz, where data transfer speed is greatest.
Research published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology said it found "no confirmed evidence that low-level RF fields above 6GHz such as those used by the 5G network are hazardous to human health."
On the other hand, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences noted that "concerns persist about possible connections between EMF and adverse health effects."
Some scientific studies have pointed to possible risks associated with non-ionizing radiation, including cellular stress, genetic damage, reproductive changes, neurological disorders and cancer.
The institute said additional research is needed, though it recommended "continued education on practical ways to reduce exposures to EMFs."
Pacific Beach high-rise: LJSA lent its unanimous support to an ongoing fight against a proposed 239-foot-tall, 22-story apartment-commercial project in north Pacific Beach after hearing a presentation from Pacific Beach Planning Group Chairwoman Marcella Bothwell.
Though the topic was not originally planned as an action item, the board revised the agenda by a two-thirds vote.
Bothwell already had presented her case to the Bird Rock Community Council and the La Jolla Community Planning Association.
LJSA President John Pierce said he would fashion a letter of support for Neighbors for a Better California, a recently formed organization that opposes the development, which is proposed for 970 Turquoise St., not far from La Jolla's southern border.
The letter will be based on a similar response by Mission Beach Town Council President Larry Webb.
Next meeting: Starting in 2025, the La Jolla Shores Association will meet the third Wednesday of each month. After a hiatus in December, the next meeting will be Jan. 15 at the Martin Johnson House on the campus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 8840 Biological Grade. Learn more at lajollashoresassociation.org. ♦