Council to Review AT&T Antennas on Solano Cafe

Albany City Councilwoman Marge Atkinson has initiated a City Council review of the recent Planning & Zoning Commission approval of AT&T cell phone antennas on Sunny Side Cafe on Solano Avenue.

Atkinson's call for a review is not the same as a citizen appeal of the commission's decision, said City Planner Anne Hersch.

"A Councilmember doesn’t complete the standard appeal form that private citizen does," she said via email. "They simply inform staff of their call up for review."

Under the city's Municipal Code, a citizen who wishes to appeal a Planning & Zoning Commission decision is obliged to file a Notice of Appeal, which should "clearly and concisely set forth the grounds upon which the appeal is based, and be accompanied by the appropriate fee."

Atkinson would not need to recuse herself from council discussion or voting on the review, Hersch said.

The council's review has been tentatively scheduled for Sept. 3, Hersch said.

Section 20.100.080(C)(2)(b) of the Municipal Code says:

"A member of the City Council may call up any action of the Planning and Zoning Commission for review one time per calendar year without being considered an aggrieved person. If a Council member requests review, there should be a presumption applied that the reason for the review is that the action has significant and material effects on the quality of life within the City of Albany. No inference of bias shall be made or implied due to such a request for review being filed by a Council member. The appeal fees shall be waived to a maximum of one request for review per council member, per calendar year."

The antennas array on Sunny Side Cafe won approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission on June 26.

It is the second AT&T antennas installation to get the commission's green light. The first application – on a three-story office building at 1023 San Pablo Ave. – was followed by five years of discussion and debate, being rejected by the commission and council on appeal in 2012, and finally winning approval from the commission and the council early this year.

An objection to the commission's approval of the Sunny Side Cafe application was raised in a July 8 Patch blog post by Heike Abeck, who said the city's use of RCC Consultants to assist in reviewing the AT&T application constituted an apparent conflict of interest since RCC Consultants has worked for AT&T.

In response to a Patch request for comment on Abeck's allegation, the city's Community Development Director, Jeff Bond, said that RCC "is a technically qualified and professional firm that provides similar analysis for the City of Berkeley."

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