By Doug Curlee | Editor at Large

The Navajo Community Planners, Inc. (NPCI) met on March 11 to, among other things, elect residents to fill eight expired seats on the panel.

The members were surprised to see a crowd of more than 200 people show up for the meeting at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, calling it the largest crowd in anyone’s memory at an election for the local community planning group.

It appeared there was something else on many minds, and there was.

Once the votes were counted (all incumbents were reelected to new terms), the attention turned to a request from the Crown Castle company, which builds and maintains wireless cell phone sites, including many in San Diego. Spokesman Mark Nicman said the company wants to refurbish and expand a faux pine tree at 7849 Tommy Drive currently operated by T-Mobile.

The expansion would not raise the height of the 30-foot tall fake tree, but would add branches to make the tree look fuller and more realistic. It would also add more receivers to the tree, enabling other cell companies to access the tree. Cricket Wireless and AT&T were two names mentioned.

NCPI member Mike McSweeney moved approval of the project, and that ignited a quick storm or protest from the audience.

It turned out that the city of San Diego was supposed to notify neighbors of the project that it was being considered, but had not done so in a timely matter.

Ruth Benjamin, who lives in a condo near the tree, complained that the area was in fact becoming an antenna farm, and that residents were scared of more microwave exposure.

“I’m sure my husband’s memory loss is at least partly because of the microwaves all over the area,” Benjamin said. “There’s another microwave site on top of the East San Diego Masonic Lodge, and there are relays on top of many of the light poles on the neighborhood.”

Fernando Roybal, another condo resident, said people didn’t even know what was going on at first, and still don’t.

“We just heard about this, and we don’t have enough [information] to make any kind of decisions,” he said. “We don’t know much of anything.”

Anticipating a long, drawn evening of talking about something people knew little about, McSweeney withdrew his motion to approve the project, and substituted a motion to table the entire question until the April meeting of NCPI. Chairman Matt Adams suggested the motion to table read “due to the City’s incompetence.”

That motion passed unanimously. Adams said he’ll try to light a fire under the City to get the project information into residents’ hands well in advance of the April meeting.

—Contact Doug Curlee at [email protected].