The project withdrawal came one day after a widespread, organized community effort to oppose the tower, which hundreds said raised concern about radiation.
AT&T has withdrawn an application for a 5G wireless tower proposed for the La Jolla Bike Path.
The withdrawal was submitted Feb 14, one day after a forum hosted by La Jolla Town Council and the Save the La Jolla Bike Path Coalition to oppose the tower’s location.
The tower would have been a 30-foot, standalone wireless communication facility with a roof and ancillary equipment in a 50-foot enclosure with equipment cabinet and a diesel generator.
Hundreds of concerned La Jolla residents have protested the tower, as the tower would be 100 to 750 feet from private residences, a senior care facility, a park and a preschool.
At the forum, engineering and radiation researcher Kent Chamberlin, part of a 2020 New Hampshire State Commission on 5G Health and Environment that recommended cell towers have a 1,640-foot setback, said hundreds of studies have shown wireless radiation causes harm, leading to chronic inflammation and diseases including cancer, diabetes, reproductive issues, chromosome damage and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Save the La Jolla Bike Path Coalition Chair Patti Garay expressed gratitude to the community, Chamberlin and the Environmental Health Trust for their help in opposing the tower.
“We are thrilled that our community’s health and safety prevailed, as well it should in every community in San Diego,” Garay said in a statement.
Representatives from AT&T did not immediately respond to a lajolla.ca request for the reason for withdrawal.
The city of San Diego has no information on whether AT&T will resubmit the proposal for another location, according to city spokesperson Richard Berg.
Save the La Jolla Bike Path Coalition will now “advocate for the passage of a citywide ordinance of setbacks from cell towers to homes, schools, nursing homes, playgrounds” and more, Garay said. “Such an ordinance will protect communities across San Diego from the negative impacts of big telecom cell towers.”
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