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Board upholds categorical exemption for small Sutro Tower antenna additions after lengthy debate
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Oct. 24 affirmed the Planning Department's CEQA categorical exemption for a small set of receive-only antenna replacements and additions at Sutro Tower, while tabling a motion to disapprove the department's determination.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Oct. 24 affirmed the Planning Department's categorical exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a request to replace four receive-only broadcast auxiliary antennas and add one additional receive-only antenna at Sutro Tower, and directed the clerk to prepare findings. The board tabled a separate motion seeking to overturn the department's exemption determination.
Neighbors and public-health and safety witnesses told supervisors the tower's steady accretion of antennas warrants a fuller environmental review, citing visual impacts, potential interference with nearby city facilities and the presence of large public projects nearby. Planning staff, tower representatives and broadcasters said the proposed equipment is receive-only (it does not transmit RF) and that prior environmental review and technical reports demonstrate no new significant impacts.
The vote on motions to affirm the exemption and to direct the clerk to prepare findings was…
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