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Commission approves low-power FM antenna on Sutro Tower to serve Chinese-language community radio
Summary
The Planning Commission approved a building-permit application for a low-power FM antenna on Sutro Tower to enable KQEA, a Chinese-language community radio station. Sponsors and KQEA said RF exposure would be far below FCC limits; some neighbors raised cumulative-antenna and seismic-safety concerns.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved April 21 a building permit to install a low-power FM antenna for KQEA on Sutro Tower, which the Chinese Culture and Art Heritage Foundation will operate to provide Chinese-language public radio programming.
Planner Seema Adena told the commission the antenna would be mounted about 230 feet above ground, measure roughly 20 feet and weigh about 68 pounds; staff noted the installation complies with planning code and wireless-telecommunications guidelines. Sutro Tower representatives presented an RF-exposure study and said the total calculated radio-frequency exposure for all tower attachments is about 6.2% of the FCC public-exposure limit. "The effective radiation of this new antenna will only be 1 watt," said Sutro Tower counsel Kristin Thall Peters, adding the tower’s structural engineers had evaluated the installation.
KQEA representatives and Chinese-American organizations emphasized the station’s role in expanding minority-language media and local programming. "Local Chinese American communities will have a voice of their own," KQEA President Eric Huang told the commission.
Midtown Terrace residents raised concerns about cumulative antenna growth, seismic safety and differences between neighborhood radiation readings and the sponsor’s reports. Commissioners asked for verification of RF data and noted that Sutro Tower will present additional landscaping and screening proposals at a later hearing. After discussion, the commission moved to not take discretionary review and to approve the building permit for the antenna; the motion passed unanimously.
