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Planning commission approves Sutro Tower antenna screening and landscaping after neighborhood review
Summary
The Planning Commission approved permits allowing antenna relocations, a parapet screening wall and supplemental landscaping at Sutro Tower, after staff and Sutro Tower Inc. described voluntary mitigation and neighbors voiced concerns about future antenna heights and RF emissions.
The San Francisco Planning Commission approved two building permits for work at Sutro Tower that relocate rooftop antennas, add a parapet screening wall and authorize supplemental landscaping intended to screen equipment from off-site views.
Planning staff explained that the proposals respond to conditions set in earlier approvals and include required inspections and measures to ensure FCC emission compliance and neighborhood outreach. "The department recommends that the commission not take D.R. and approve these permits as proposed," planner Ashley Woods told commissioners during the mandatory discretionary review presentation.
Kristen Thall Peters, representing Sutro Tower Inc., said the company had voluntarily updated landscaping and screening plans in response to neighborhood feedback and submitted a technical feasibility study on relocation alternatives. "We remain committed to working with our neighbors to address their concerns," she said.
Neighbors urged more comprehensive long-term safeguards. Christine Linnenbach of the Twin Peaks Improvement Association noted the tower's conditional-use approval dates to 1948 and warned there are no explicit height limits on future rooftop equipment. "What really needs to happen here is the planning commission and the department need to look at the conditional use permit and recognize'we have no height limit on how tall the future additions can be," she said.
Commissioners pressed the sponsor on tree sizes, slope stability and the feasibility of terrace planting. The applicant said landscape architects had selected species and configuration after consulting the PUC and local experts. Commissioners and staff discussed holding a neighborhood meeting to review future FCC-driven spectrum changes that may require further equipment moves.
On a motion to approve the current permits and proceed without taking discretionary-review action, the commission voted in favor, concluding the applications met the earlier permit conditions and the standard mitigation measures recommended by staff.
