Extra

Cell phone antenna regulations, West Berkeley zoning issues, two condo conversion proposals and the land use chapter of the Downtown Area Plan have all been crammed into Wednesday night’s agenda for the Berkeley Planning Commission. 

The session gets underway at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

The cell phone antenna legislation is being considered on the same evening that the City Council is hearing appeals on the Zoning Adjustments Board's decisions on placement of the controversial structure atop two buildings, the French Hotel at 1540 Shattuck Ave. and University Neighborhood Apartments at 1725 University Ave. 

Cell antennas have proven a controversial issue in a city where many residents rely on wireless phones for many of their calls to family, friends and business clients. 

The one issue federal law bars cities from regulating—possible adverse impacts from exposure to nearby residents and workers—is the elephant in the room. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is the greatest obstacle to neighbors worried about radiation emitted by the antenna arrays which are concentrated on taller buildings such as apartments, church steeples and structures like the UC Storage building—which is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by concerned neighbors. 

Writing new regulations, initially demanded by cell phone companies, has proven a time consuming task, in part because of a recent federal appellate court ruling that gives local jurisdictions greater flexibility than they had before. 

Commissioners will also be continuing their discussion of zoning issues in West Berkeley which some developers say are hindering their project proposals, and which area artists and small industrial companies fear could create pressures that would drive them out of their last refuge in the city. 

Another issue fraught with controversy on Wednesday’s agenda is the land use chapter of the Downtown Area Plan—the section that will determine just how high and how dense the downtown could become. 

The condo proposals cover two existing properties: one is a two-building complex at Virginia Street and San Pablo Avenue that would be transformed into eight residential condos and one commercial unit, the second building at 1708 Martin Luther King Jr. Way which would become five residential and two commercial condos. 

The agenda, with links to reports and key documents, is available at www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=29832erkeley buildings/.