Coalition Doesn't Want Cell Tower at Beeman Park

A letter to Councilman Paul Krekorian:

I am writing to you today as a Studio City small business owner and resident, and, on behalf of other residents and neighbors in our community who have organized as Beeman Park Coalition. This is an appeal for your urgent attention with regard to several issues at the park, and in particular as related to the proposed AT&T cell tower at 12621 Rye Street. We further request your presence at the upcoming Park Advisory Board meeting, scheduled for Monday, October 27, 2014 at 6PM (in the recreation center) and it would be helpful to know, prior to that meeting, what your position on this project is.

Studio City Recreation Area is losing its identity and character as a small neighborhood park. There are several things in which we as residents are concerned about, which must be addressed:

1. There is no monitoring of after-hours activity. From 9PM-on, the park is a haven for drugs and alcohol (and lots of noise). The gates to the parking lot are never locked – so technically, the park never quite “closes” – and because the lot is on a cul-de-sac, it invites even more of this activity.

Park rangers rarely, if ever, respond anymore and residents often must resort to calling the North Hollywood Police. Video surveillance would be extremely beneficial here and can be an immediate deterrent to illegal activity;

2. Beeman is being used as a dog park, which it is not, and signs are clearly posted everywhere. There are constantly dogs off leash and we have witnessed several instances of larger dogs attacking one another, and, more than a few where the owners of these dogs, trying to break up these incidents, were themselves bitten. Park staff, though repeatedly requested to do so, does not monitor this. In fact, the door to the park office is almost always closed, so they would have no way of knowing what is going on outside or if there were any type of emergent situation;

3. Skateboarding. This is a chronic, daily issue for residents and a very dangerous one for park visitors. “No Skateboarding” signs are clearly posted at the park, however, park office staff, again, does nothing to monitor this and we as residents have become the local “bad guys” by default, often leading to escalated confrontations with teenagers who would like to use the steps and rails near the rec center entrance as a skate park. I cannot tell you how many times per week I have witnessed a skateboarder losing control of his board flying out from under him, only to have it barely miss a small child. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. The skateboarding activity is highly elevated each night beginning at approximately 8PM; residents are left to deal with the very loud noise these kids make, and, by way of example, just last week I witnessed a resident being verbally assaulted by an extremely aggressive local teen who was asked (by the resident) to stop skateboarding; this happened in the presence of park staff. We plead for this to be addressed.

4. Traffic congestion. Cars often park right in the middle of Rye and Beeman to load and unload passengers, which is a real safety risk to residents and park users alike. As residents, our driveways are routinely blocked by park-goers.

As you can see, we have many concerns, but none greater or more urgent now than the proposed AT&T cell tower. This is the heightened “last straw.” How can the City, the Parks Department, our Council, possibly think it is a good idea to put this equipment in such a widely used public space near our children and our homes, especially in light of the vast availability of medical and scientific data showing how harmful and dangerous it is? LAUSD has been a vocal opponent of such towers near their schools; LA Firefighters are also opposed (see website for reference).

In my practice, as it happens, I work with a world-renowned expert on EMF Radiation because one of my clients is permanently disabled due to exposure resulting from his work near cell towers; this, despite his having used all necessary and required protective gear.

Beeman Park Coalition will not stand for a cell tower in our neighborhood park. We have set up a website and encourage you to view it to better understand our opposition. Further, we are putting the City, the Council and the Parks Department on notice that our Coalition will be the watchdog for this small park long after we have successfully put an end to the proposed cell tower project.

We understand that Beeman Park is one of maybe 10 smaller recreation areas citywide that do not get direct “park funds,” and therefore must rely on sponsors or other donors. As a nearly 20 year resident of Studio City and a daily user of the park, I am only now learning of this. I cannot speak broadly for other residents and neighbors, but personally, I would be more than happy to donate occasional funds for park activities or beautification, and know that other members of our Coalition feel the same. In other words, there are ways in which residents can contribute to the healthy operation of this park without having to rely on a “financial boon”, as one Park Advisory Board member has characterized it, from corporate behemoths such as AT&T.

Our website: http://stopattcelltowerbeemanpark.com/about.html. You may also reach out to us via email: beemanparkcoalition@yahoo.com

We hope to see you at Monday’s meeting, Councilman, and thank you in advance for your time and attention.

For your reference, we are copying various members of the community, including Park officials, Commissioners, our Neighborhood Council and Resident’s Association and local media. This list may be found on the following page.

Kindest Regards,

KAREN MOSKOWITZ

FOR BEEMAN PARK COALITION

PHOTO Courtesy city of Los Angeles.

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