Couple Ordered to Remove Satellite Dish

A Thousand Oaks couple whose clash with neighborhood groups led to a new city policy on satellite dishes have been denied permission to keep their backyard dish.

The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission on Monday rejected an application by Bruce and Stephanie Maltz, who live in a part of Westlake Village that is within Thousand Oaks. Their standoff with the Westlake Joint Board, a coalition of 34 homeowners associations in both the Los Angeles and Ventura county parts of Westlake Village, brought the satellite dish issue to the attention of city officials.

In January, 1985, the Maltzes installed a 10-foot-wide dish to pull in the signals of more than 150 television stations from broadcast satellites. Homeowners in the affluent neighborhood objected to the dish as unsightly. The Westlake Joint Board also contended it violated deed restrictions in the planned community of Westlake Village.

Worry Over Contracts, Freedom

This January, the City Council voted to order its planning staff to ignore the rules of homeowners’ groups when considering whether to grant special-use permits for satellite dishes. Special-use permits are required in Thousand Oaks for homeowners setting up satellite dishes or ham radio towers and for people who want to establish day nurseries and commercial stables.

Officials said they were worried that embracing the rules of homeowners groups would have thrust them into private contract disputes and possibly led to violations of freedom of speech. The vote was considered a victory for homeowners such as the Maltzes and a defeat for homeowner groups with strict neighborhood covenants.

But the Planning Commission voted 3 to 1 to reject the Maltzes’ application, citing the noise of the dish’s motor, the visual distraction to neighbors and possible harm to nearby property values.

The Maltzes said they will appeal the ruling to the City Council.

“It was a railroad job, a slam dunk,” Bruce Maltz said. “They’re obviously showing favoritism to the homeowners association.”

Maltz said he and his wife are trying to sell their house but not because of bad feelings over the satellite dish issue.

If they don’t file the appeal, they must remove the dish within 20 days or face criminal or civil action, said Thomas Preece, assistant city planner.

In another dish-permit case, however, the planning commission approved the application of northern Thousand Oaks residents Tom and Pamela Kopp because their three-foot dish cannot be seen from the street and is not motorized, Preece said.

In keeping with the new city policy, planning commissioners disregarded the argument of a local homeowners group that the Kopps’ antenna violated neighborhood covenants, he said.