Community successfully petitions against cell tower in Torrey Hills Park

A proposal to install a cell tower in Torrey Hills Community Park has been withdrawn, following community opposition.

Earlier this year, the Torrey Hills Planning Group pushed back against Dish Wireless’ proposed placement of cell equipment inside the park on Calle Mejillones, right on a popular walking path that loops around the park and connects to Carmel Mountain Road above. The plans called for removing an existing 70-foot-tall light pole near the softball field and replacing it with an in-kind pole. Three antennas would be mounted on the pole and a concrete brick building would be built next to it to house accompanying equipment. The 10-foot-wide and nine-foot-tall building with a trellis on top was considered an eyesore by the planning board.

“The community of Torrey Hills was decidedly against the absurdity of installing a large antenna on an existing field light pole, both for suboptimal coverage and because of the exceedingly ‘halfhearted’ look of it,” wrote planning board chair Victor Marshall in an email.

The park location was not Dish’s first pick—they first considered alternatives at commercial retail properties such as the Vons rooftop at Torrey Hills Center but agreements could not be reached with the property owners. According to the project’s consultant, the benefit of the park location was that it sits on a higher elevation and could provide more coverage for Dish’s network, reducing the need for additional facilities within the community.

As Marshall said, the board believed better coverage could be achieved by an alternative placement and suggested possible options. Local telecom engineers in Torrey Hills also weighed in.

“When all suggestions were denied for frivolous and unfounded reasons, it became clear that the project company was simply ‘going through the motions’ of notifying a community with the intent of installing it anyway,” Marshall said. “The community responded with outrage, drafting a petition signed by 166 residents, and many more residents who contacted the city council. After much pressure from many citizens, the proposal to install the cell antenna has been withdrawn. The system works.”

Community volunteers and planning board members Delisa DeLeo and Rama Subramanian were credited with working tirelessly to organize the online petition and make residents aware.

Looking online at antennasearch.com, DeLeo discovered there were already 108 towers and 496 antennas within a three-mile radius of her house in Torrey Hills: “I figured that was enough and I did not see a need to put one so close to the kids playing in our Torrey Hills Park.”

“Torrey Hills Park serves as a vital green space for our community, providing a place for recreation, relaxation, and connection with nature. Its current natural beauty is a significant asset, enhancing our quality of life and contributing to the overall appeal of our neighborhood,” read the petition posted on change.org. “The proposed cell phone antenna, with its industrial appearance, would be a visual blight, disrupting the park’s natural scenery and diminishing its appeal to residents and visitors alike.”

DeLeo said the petition got over 3,000 views and she was glad that she not only raised awareness about the cell tower issue but boosted interest in the planning board. Residents who had never before attended a planning board meeting showed up to voice their concerns.

Marshall delivered the news about the cell tower plan withdrawal via email as the board’s October meeting was canceled due to an agenda notification error. At the planning board’s Nov. 18 meeting, they are expected to discuss how to spend Breakthrough Properties’ $250,000 donation to the community for the Torrey Heights office complex.

Meeting agendas are posted online at sandiego.gov/planning/community-plans/torrey-hills/planning-group