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Approved 3113117 <br />1 not harmful to humans. They also point to what one of the Council County members said earlier, <br />2 that even if it were harmful other sources such as the Wi -Fi in this room, the cell phones in this <br />3 room, the microwaves in the rooms over, and TV's and radios expose us to much higher levels of <br />4 RF radiation than even homes in the near vicinity. As a father of two very young children living in <br />5 the area I wouldn't support it if I thought it was hazardous to the health of my children and my <br />6 neighbors. Now, speaking to the concerns of health hazards of not approving the cell tower: the <br />7 reason I came to this meeting was because the Friday night before the last meeting on December <br />8 the 9t", three nights before the meeting, I had a potential emergency and I needed to call 911 for <br />9 my home. There were, over a 20- minute period, my cell phone dropped a call four times, I <br />10 attempted many more times to call 911, and I'm very fortunate one, the emergency was ok, and <br />11 two, the 911 operator was able to continue returning the call to my phone until we were able to get <br />12 through and pair a conversation together. My point is the lack of cell coverage could've harmed, <br />13 not only my young children, but also my neighbors. I consider it a blessing that this situation did <br />14 not harm anyone, however, if it's not my situation it would be another, another, another. Now, it <br />15 could be argued that I need a home cell phone booster. I have one. It was on that night, flashing <br />16 that it worked, and it didn't work. Cell phone boosters, in my opinion, are not reliable where I live <br />17 and I see this as a benefit. One could also argue I need a landline. Based on my demographics, <br />18 we do not have landlines. If I get one, it's the new folks across the street and they're not going to <br />19 get one either so if we fail to allow this cell tower to come into the area I see it as us, as a <br />20 community, choosing to continue propagating with unnecessary risks for our residents to <br />21 accessing emergency services. Now, two, the property value piece: I've heard the detailed <br />22 accounts from appraisers from both sides. I'm aware there are the studies from the mid 2000's in <br />23 New Zealand, and I think both sides have vetted those as well as you probably need to. I have not <br />24 heard introduced the 2016 U.S. based peer reviewed research article, which I would consider to <br />25 be a more legitimate source. An article about the cell service needs of western Kentucky, which <br />26 used property analysis and weighted samples for determining how housing values are affected in <br />27 western Kentucky, over a much larger sample and a longer time frame than some of the studies <br />28 we've heard presented here. Those findings can be debated, I think the concern that seems to be <br />29 the case is what are property value between 1,000 -feet directly from the radius of the cell tower up <br />30 to potentially 4,000 -feet. I think considering those findings, which I'm not getting into, and I'm <br />31 listing only my personal opinion here, with the findings that are being presented are directly <br />32 related to houses very close to the cell tower. After skimming TowerCom's Special Use Permit <br />33 application I counted no more than 42 different property holding entities within .a 1,000 -foot radius <br />34 of the proposed tower. So in that application there's well more than 42 entities that own property <br />35 within 1,000 -feet but it's only 42 different at most. And I did that on my cell phone sitting at this <br />36 meeting so it's not an exact science there but, if the tower cannot only benefit Verizon customers <br />37 as well as potentially other customers, as we heard from testimony that can be debated, and if <br />38 there are no adverse health effects caused by the tower I hope the opposition, by few, does not <br />39 prevent the Board from approving what I believe can benefit many. The second piece of property <br />40 values, and my final point is: Basically I'm going to get to eyeball a home, three years ago, where <br />41 we are. Cell phone coverage was a big reason I would've bought. My wife talked me into buying it <br />42 despite the fact that I thought cell coverage wasn't because I talked to Verizon and they said <br />43 they'd give me a home booster. I work from home a lot and I have some letters here in support of <br />44 the cell phone tower. And I also have links to these different sources that I can also provide from <br />45 my Google document. But in responding to the last witness who, and I quoted, said, "That the <br />46 increase, mostly because young people are sitting around watching videos" I personally can attest <br />47 that I work from home and the ability to have calls. It's not acceptable. I have to go other places to <br />48 do my own work and I didn't even ask someone who also wrote a letter, but ironically a couple <br />49 that just moved in across the street, both who work in healthcare IT as consultants, are very <br />50 concerned that they've moved in and bought a house where cell phone coverage is not reliable <br />OC Board of Adjustment — 12/12/16 Page 114 of 156 <br />