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17 <br /> <br />X. The 80-foot macro tower with diesel generator does not qualify for a Class 3 CEQA <br />Exemption. <br />The Planning Commission approved an exemption to the California Environmental Quality <br />Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines section 15303. However, the Staff Report and the Planning <br />Commission offer no discussion of why this it is appropriate here. The exemption applies to the <br />construction and location of limited numbers of new, small facilities or structures; <br />installation of small new equipment and facilities in small structures; and the conversion <br />of existing small structures from one use to another where only minor modifications are <br />made in the exterior of the structure. <br /> <br />In the case of Don’t Cell Our Parks v. City of San Diego, this CEQA exemption was upheld <br />for a 35-foot faux tree antenna tower hidden in a stand of taller trees in a city park because it was <br />“much smaller than a single-family residence, store, motel, office or restaurant[.]”35 However, <br />unlike the 35-foot disguised tower among trees at issue in Don’t Cell Our Parks, AT&T’s proposed <br />facility is much larger and not hidden among any trees. It is conspicuous from many residential <br />properties, to future neighboring residents and to riders of BART. It also can pose air quality and <br />noise impacts from the 30kW diesel generator.36 <br />AT&T’s tower, by virtue of its size and position, is also even more out of place with the <br />surrounding environment than the installations denied in the 2022 case of Saint Ignatius <br />Neighborhood Association v. City & County of San Francisco. There, the court of appeal explained <br />that this CEQA exemption cannot be used to exempt 90-foot-tall light standards because they <br />are significantly taller than any other structure in the neighborhood, the city's zoning <br />ordinance limits residential buildings in the area to 40 feet tall and typical streetlights are <br />only 25 to 30 feet tall. . . The cell tower [in the Don't Cell Our Parks case] was small within <br />its setting, unlike the light standards at issue here which will be by far the tallest structure <br /> <br />35 Don't Cell Our Parks v. City of San Diego (2018) 21 Cal. App. 5th 338, 359-360. <br />36 Application, Attachment 1, Exhibit C, Sheet C-5. <br />Att B - Page 37 of 46