Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wireless Siting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission approves Sprint rooftop wireless site at 88 King Street after residents raise RF and lease concerns
Summary
The Planning Commission approved a conditional use authorization for a Sprint rooftop wireless facility at 88 King Street. Staff said the proposed installation meets wireless siting guidelines; residents pressed for more transparency and testing options; commissioners approved the application with conditions.
The San Francisco Planning Commission voted to approve a conditional use authorization for a rooftop Sprint wireless facility at 88 King Street on Dec. 20, 2018, despite public concerns about health and lease transparency. Planning staff described a stealth design that would place six panel antennas and associated equipment on the roof behind screening and painted to match the building.
Ashley Lindsay, planning department staff, summarized the proposal and said the site is in a mixed‑use, high‑density district and that the department found the installation consistent with the wireless siting guidelines. Jeremy Jordan of Precision Site Development, representing Sprint, said the design is intended to be “completely stealth” and that the carrier has conducted an RF exposure report reviewed by Department of Public Health. Jordan said the site is part of a forced relocation of a pier site being decommissioned due to redevelopment and is important for coverage and emergency service access in the AT&T Park and Bay Bridge corridors.
Residents raised health and process concerns. Nilesh Parate, a resident and unit owner at the building, told the commission that tenants were surprised by the proposal and said they had not received the RF study the board claimed to have commissioned. He called the process “opaque” and said residents were not given full access to the underlying health assessment.
Commissioners and staff described what local tenants can request: if the project is approved, tenants may ask Sprint to send an RF engineer to measure existing emissions on‑site and to do follow‑up testing after installation. Commissioner Coppell moved to approve the conditional use authorization with the conditions in the staff report; the motion carried on a recorded unanimous vote in the hearing minutes.
The approval places the matter under the consent calendar for final actions. The commission’s action was procedural and land‑use focused; staff emphasized that health evaluations are outside the city’s land‑use discretion and pointed tenants to on‑site measurement remedies and DPH review.
