City Bans Dish Antennas on Residential Area Roofs

The Fountain Valley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban satellite television dish antennas on rooftops in residential areas and to limit their size citywide.

According to the adopted ordinance, satellite dish antennas in residential areas may be no larger than 10 feet in diameter and no taller than 12 feet, 4 inches. Residents who already have such rooftop dishes will be allowed to keep them, Ray Kromer, assistant city manager, said.

However, the ordinance allows exceptions in residential areas under certain circumstances, Kromer said, such as when a user needs a roof-mounted or larger dish to pick up a broadcast signal.

In commercial and industrial areas, the mounting of satellite dish antennas is subject to review by the Planning Commission, according to City Planner Don Contraman. Even in these areas, the diameter is not to exceed 10 feet, and it must be screened from view from adjacent properties and streets. In effect, satellite TV dishes, whether mounted on the roof or the ground, can be no taller than just below that height at which they could be seen, Contraman said.

Three members of the industry told the council Tuesday that California needs larger dishes to distinguish satellite signals from the East Coast.

Gay Hamilton of Satellite Industries Assn. in Santa Ana said, “When someone is saying an eight-foot antenna is adequate for reception, I’m saying in California that’s absolutely not true.”

He said Federal Communications Commission guidelines setting the diameter of satellite dishes at eight to 12 feet are applicable in the Midwest but not here.

Many cities have prohibited satellite dishes altogether because they are often considered an eyesore. Laguna Beach, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Placentia have all placed size and height restrictions on satellite dishes within the last two years, although none of the cities banned such equipment.

In San Juan Capistrano, satellite dish restrictions already largely comply with FCC regulations, said Mark Korvas, a city planning assistant. However, the council will consider in August an ordinance to drop a requirement for conditional-use permits, he said. Only satellite dishes in commercial areas need the permits, and one element of the FCC regulations is that residential and commercial users be treated alike, Korvas said.

Fountain Valley’s Contraman said in addition to complying with FCC regulations, the city hopes to save time by setting up criteria for mounting satellite dishes. Previously, every time a satellite dish was mounted, a review board had to consider the size and placement of the antenna, without any specific criteria to follow, he said.