Join the Facebook Group To “Help T-Mobile Be a Good Neighbor”

Do you belong to Facebook? Do your friends have Facebook pages? You join and invite them to join the Facebook group to “Help T-Mobile Be A Good Neighbor.”

It’s a way to show solidarity with our neighbors in southwest Lansing (MI) and others around the country who are trying to get T-Mobile to work with neighborhoods to locate cell towers in visually-friendly locations.

Facebook pages are an easy way to network with friends around the country and to locate like-minded folk who can show their support.

Help locate all the cellphone towers in the city of Lansing (MI) and its outskirts

My wife, Gladys, and I have been watching for cell towers inside the city limits of Lansing (MI) and in the nearby outskirts. We’ve been snapping digital photos and trying to gauge their height, look at their proximity to residential areas and to make a grid of their location.

We invite you to join us and leave a comment about the cell towers you see inside the State Capital city and the metropolitan area.

As cellphones begin to replace landlines more and more, there will be increased demand for new towers inside the city.

Right now, T-Mobile want to build a 120-foot tower in the Averill Woods neighborhood on the southwest side. It would be smack dab in a residential area where young families and senior citizens live.

After their request for a special use permit was turned down by the Lansing City Council, T-Mobile filed a lawsuit against the city in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. The city is negotiating with the cell company to end the legal action.

Meanwhile, the City Council is drafting a new ordinance to regulate where and how cell towers are constructed.

I invite you to leave a comment when you spot a tower. Leave it’s location, guess its height and, if you can, take a picture and e-mail it to me.  Give your impressions about how the tower affects the appearance of the area.

Tomorrow is “garage sale day” in southwest Lansing, MI

The neighborhood garage sales in southwest Lansing’s Averill Woods and Lewton Rich neighborhoods start at 8 a.m. tomorrow and run til 3 p.m.

Read this post for a downloadable flyer and for more details, check Melissa’s comments.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: lansing, averill woods, lewton rich, garage sales

Fundraising spaghetti dinner on July 19 for Dunn Family Fire Victims

Neighbors and friends of the Dunn family who lost their home to a devastating fire are holding a fundraising dinner from 2 pm –6 pm on Saturday, July 19 at Coscarelli’s at 2400 S. Cedar St. in Lansing.

The family, including two youngsters, escaped with only the clothes on their back after a turned-on laptop computer left on their couch overnight ignited their couch.

You are invited to print and share this flyer (PDF) and share it with friends and neighbors. Hope to see you there.

Making T-Mobile better Lansing neighbor: T-Mobile backs off K.C. cell tower construction

Read this Kansas City Star story about how T-Mobile backed off plans to construct a 120 foot cell tower as a result of citizen concerns.

T-Mobile withdrew its proposal to scale down the size before it resubmits its revised plans.

The cellphone company is pushing plans through a U.S. District Court lawsuit to build a similar cell tower in a residential southwest Lansing neighborhood.

Help T-Mobile be a good Lansing (MI) neighbor

T-Mobile is trying to force construction of a 120 foot cell tower in Lansing’s Averill Woods neighborhood on the city’s southwest side. The proposed tower has been turned down by the Lansing City Council with the cellphone company suing in U.S. District Court to get it constructed.

Averill Woods neighbors have been rebuffed in their efforts to work with the cell company to reduce the size, to change the location, to find solutions to environmental concerns and to lessen the visual impact on nearby homes.

Apparently, T-Mobile is taking the same anti-neighborhood and anti-family attitude in the city of Rochester (MI) where residents have expressed serious reservations about construction of a tower among homes and near a school. The Detroit Free Press recently wrote about the tensions that exist between the T-Mobile corporation and the neighborhood.

Save this date: Southside Lansing (MI) participation in new city master plan

Kathie Dunbar, the executive director of the South Lansing Community Development Association, announced that a community forum will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm at Grace United Methodist Church to discuss the southside’s role in drafting a new master plan.

In an e-mail, Dunbar, also a member of the Lansing City Council, said that during the next year, the association will be coordinating with the city’s planning department and its consultant an effort to help understand the planning process and to make sure its voice is heard.

“As was recently reported in the City Pulse,” she said, “the city’s most recent master plan is 30-years-old with only partial updates. The plans and data and assumptions are now obsolete. It lacks a city-wide focus and does not provide the guidance needed to address current issues and guide future growth.”

The meeting includes a light meal. RSVP’s are requested and can be made by calling Dunbar at 374-5700 or by email at slcda@comcast.net.

Grace United Methodist Church is at the corner of Mt. Hope and Boston.

Averill Woods neighbors and Grand Haven manor discuss T-Mobile cell tower

Averill Woods Neighborhood Association members who participated in a meeting yesterday afternoon with the president of Grand Haven Manor on Mount Hope about a proposed cell tower on their property left feeling positive.

Five Averill Woods (southwest side of Lansing (MI) neighbors and one from the Lewton-Rich neighborhood met for an hour with Dennis J. Varian, president of The Associated Management Company, which owns the housing complex for persons over 55-years-old.

The 120-foot cell tower which is immediately adjacent to the Averill Woods and Lewton Rich neighborhoods has been turned down by the Lansing City Council for a special use permit to allow the tower to be built. T-Mobile is suing the city in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids to allow the tower to be built in our residential area.

Spread the word: Big Averill Woods (Lansing, MI) neighborhood garage sale

Help Get The Word Out:

DOWNLOAD THIS FLIER AND SHARE WITH NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS

Make money and have fun with your neighbors!!

Join the
Averill Woods Neighborhood Association

5th Annual Neighborhood Garage Sale

Saturday, June 21, 2008

8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

We’ll have signs posted at the main entrances to the neighborhood.

Please add signs to direct people to your exact location.

Email your (1) sale address and (2) short description of items for sale to Melissa at hubermel@msu.edu or leave message at 394-3996 if you do not have email. We’ll post your items on the webpage.

Lansing (MI) stuff you might want to know; surveillance cameras, city golf courses, city manager, cell towers, etc.

Southside Lansing (MI) residents learned about and discussed several items of information relevant to the whole city and of concern to many during City Council member A’Lynne Robinson’s “Second Saturday” meeting for June.

(Please note: I’m writing about these from a minimum of context. So, please pardon unanswered questions and factual errors) These items include:

• Tensions continue between the City Council and Mayor Virg Bernero over his insistence that the city install surveillance cameras in strategic locations in the city including neighborhoods. The council wants to use money intended for southside cameras for the hiring of an auditor for the city council to monitor city departments and programs.
• City Council efforts to reopen the city’s Waverly and Red Cedar golf courses are being rebuffed by Bernero, according to A’Lynne. The mayor’s administration estimated, at one point, that $200,000 would be required to reopen the two courses still closed. An additional $400,000 was added to the need by city officials at a later point.
• Changing the Lansing City Charter to change the city’s governance model to a city manager from a strong mayor is being discussed. The goal is to give the City Council more power and input into the operation of governmental functions.
• A proposed city ordinance is being considered to regulate construction of cell towers and antennas in the city. This move is the result of T-Mobiles continuing attempts to build a cell tower in the Averill Woods neighborhood. After their rezoning request was turned down by the city council, T-Mobile filed a lawsuit in federal district court.