LAGUNA NIGUEL : Neighbors Protest Telephone Tower

A proposed 65-foot-tall cellular telephone tower with antenna is making waves throughout this community and pitting the new City Council against the Capistrano Unified School District.

What at first seemed like a routine request by PacTel Cellular to install the antenna on the outskirts of Crown Valley Elementary School’s playing field has upset a group of Niguel Hills residents who say the tower would be an unwelcome addition to the neighborhood.

“It’s certainly going to be a part of my life if it goes in,” said Samuel Long, whose home backs up to the school next to the proposed antenna location. “I’m the closest one to the tower. I’ll be able to see it from any point in my house. When we eat dinner in our dining room, we’ll see it. When I wake up in my bedroom, I’ll see it.”

Long and neighbors took their concerns to the City Council last week and received promises of support.

“We have a position of strong opposition to the project and intend to pursue it with vigor,” said Mayor Patricia C. Bates, who had unanimous council support.

The council had already registered its own complaint to the school district at a public hearing last month. The school board then placed the proposal on hold.

Supt. Jerome R. Thornsley said he was surprised at the opposition.

“We have three towers in other locations in the district,” Thornsley said. “None of them have caused any problems.”

Larry Levine of PacTel, who handles real estate acquisitions such as those for cellular telephone towers, was also surprised. At least 10 other school districts in Los Angeles and Orange counties have similar arrangements, he said.

“We’ve never had this kind of opposition before,” Levine said. “It was unbelievable. I really didn’t understand it.”

Levine said that cellular telephones need antenna locations throughout the Southland to act as relays for telephone signals and that he offers lease proposals to school districts as a means for schools to make extra money.

Levine just signed two similar agreements in Irvine, one antenna to be installed at Irvine High School and another at Woodbridge High School.

Capistrano Valley High School has a similar tower with antenna, and Dana Hills High School has two, Thornsley said.

Another PacTel tower is in the Nellie Gail Ranch area of Laguna Hills, plainly visible from Interstate 5, Levine said.

In the Crown Valley Elementary School case, the telephone company would pay the school district $5,000 a year for 15 years, with possible cost-of-living increases and five-year lease extensions.

The district would also get free use of six cellular phones. In exchange, the tower, with the antenna on top, and a small trailer would be placed in a 25-by-80-foot area of the ball field.

Bates listed four reasons that she and the council oppose the tower.

“First of all, the building height limit in Laguna Niguel is 35 feet, and the tower with the antenna would be 65 feet,” she said.

“Then there are significant negative aesthetic impacts of a tower like that. It also reduces the size of the playing field there.”

The council has asked for the chance to find another location for the tower, Councilman Larry A. Porter said. But Levine said that might cut the school district out of an income.

“Most of the time, the neighbors like to see their schools getting some money,” Levine said. “As far as I knew, it was the same here. I thought everything was a go situation, and we were going to sign an agreement with the school board. But all of a sudden we ran into this significant opposition.”

The Capistrano school board will reconsider the matter in February, Thornsley said.