RAP for Richmond - Responsible Antenna Placement & Planning
Keeping Our Homes and Schools Safe and Protecting Property Values

RAP FOR RICHMOND RESIDENTS

RESPONSIBLE ANTENNA PLACEMENT & PLANNING

RAP Concerns Win the Day as the Richmond City Council Protects our Rights Again on 11/7 at 2:30am!


Thank you Mayor McLaughlin and Richmond City Council for your votes on 11/6 and 10/30 to support our concerns and protect our rights to due process!

Thank you City Manager Bill Lindsay for working with T-Mobile for a voluntary relocation!

11/6 Council Meeting

Council voted that there were grounds to continue with a Revocation Hearing on the permit at 260 Water Street.

A unanimous vote for a Permit Revocation Hearing before the Planning Commission on 260 Water Street  is approved to go forward on December 6th.  This is if T-Mobile cannot reach a resolution with the city for removal of the antenna installation by December 1st. 

This was the first vote in a two step process.  First the Council must agree that their are grounds for a revocation, then send it to Planning Commission where they vote on the actual revocation.  Any party that wants to appeal the decision has 10 days to then appeal back to the City Council.  So we will need to present our case to the Planning Commission to secure the revocation of the permit.  We will need to be prepared to go back before the City Council if the Feagleys or T-Mobile appeal the permit revocation

10/30 Council Vote

Six Month Moratorium on Cell Tower Installations

This is a time for revising our telecommunications ordinances and to work on mapping current sites.

Councilmembers Butt and Thurmond are working on developing a complete inventory of Cell Antennae in Richmond, so our City can make a proper assessment of these sites for safety, code compliance and to effectively evaluate future permit applications.

Upcoming meetings:

11/27 -  Manager Bill Lindsay updated the City Council at their closed chambers meeting on the negotiations with T-Mobile to voluntarily withdraw and relocate to an appropriate site.  RAP supports this effort and encourages T-Mobile to do the right thing.  Unless there is an acceptable plan for removal by 12/1 then we will be moving forward with a permit revocation.

January 2008 - Permit Revocation Hearing on 260 Water Street before the City of Richmond Planning Commission

All meetings are held at Council Chambers at 1401 Marina Way South

Directions from Cutting & Canal


Call, Write and Email Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, City Manager Bill Lindsay, and all Richmond City Councilmembers and tell them you appreciate their support and hardwork on restoring our rights and protecting our property values, health and environment.


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We want to thank the Mayor and the Council for their unanimous vote for a 6 month moratorium and for granting us a Revocation Hearing before the Planning Commission.  We want to thank City Manager Bill Lindsay and City Attorney Randy Riddle for trying to negotiate a solution with T-Mobile.


Lawsuit Update

RAP is prepared to continue its landmark lawsuit against T-Mobile, Property Owners Jerry and Jan Feagley, and the City to the Supreme Court so that our rights, health and property values are never this trampled like this again - here or anywhere.
Even though we have had to file a lawsuit in order to not miss a statute - RAP believes that our planning system was manipulated and that our citizens were mislead.  We want  to be partnered with our city in standing up to companies and developers who are trying to subvert our codes and the spirit of our laws.  Our desire is to see Richmond lead the way for other cities in stopping the bullying tactics of the telecommunications companies and that we should know that we are being cheered on by Council Members in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and many, many more.

These antenna installations should be a source of revenue, NOT liability for our cities.  We need to be proactive and take charge so that the placement of these antennas can be wisely administered and monitored.  We can stop the bullying by companies that are not even based in the United States that are telling American cities and citizens that we must submit to property devaluation, pollution and damaged health so that they can make money – Make money doing what they cannot do in their own countries to their own citizens.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 does not enslave us!  It requires us to be smart, pro-active and demanding of the rights that it does give us.  RAP wants to educate our city and our citizens so that Richmond can become an inspiration to other cities across our country.

We want to thank Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and the Council for their continued support of the citizens of Richmond

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Our next step is working toward the removal of 260 Water Street. Read about us in the Contra Costa County Times.

Check out another success story!  Albany, Berkeley, San Francisco, Astoria, New York - In hundreds of cities across America people like us have been heard and the right thing is being done.

Imagine waking up one morning to this outside your bedroom window, and discovering your city Planning Department had issued a secret exemption from city laws without notifying the Planning Commission or the citizens.  Inside the orange box are *12 high-powered Commercial Cell Antennas that can give horizon-to-horizon coverage while giving off strong electromagnetic frequencies - something normally put on a 150-foot pole and away from homes and areas where children and seniors spend any amount of time.  But, this is now right outside the bedroom windows of neighbors and several babies and directly above tenants in the building.  Not a responsible placement choice.

Health Hazard, Environmental Hazard, Urban Blight, Devalues Property, Just Plain Ugly and Illegal!


Commercial Cell Antennas in a residential area are against the Richmond city code, but it is happening for the first time at 260 Water Street in Point Richmond!  This sets a dangerous precedent and opens the door for it to happen to YOUR neighborhood and anywhere else in Richmond.