Phone ‘Public Nuisance’ Proposal Put on Hold : Regulation: Santa Ana Council delays action in face of criticism led by Pacific Bell.

A proposed law that would require the removal of pay telephones used for drug sales, prostitution or other crimes was put on hold by the City Council on Monday after phone company representatives raised objections.

The ordinance--the first of its kind for Orange County--would allow the city to declare a pay telephone a “public nuisance” and order its removal for at least one year.

But the proposal brought a debate between those who believe that police need additional tools to curb drug dealing and other criminal activities and phone company officials and others who consider pay telephones a public necessity, particularly in Santa Ana, where low-income residents cannot afford telephones in their homes.

Pacific Bell spokeswoman Karen Taylor said her company “definitely supports” efforts to reduce crime but was concerned about the vagueness of the proposed law, which would allow any city department head to initiate the removal of a pay telephone.

Although Pacific Bell was the only phone company represented at the meeting, others have objected to the proposal.

Phone company officials said previously that 20% of all calls to the 911 emergency line statewide are placed through pay telephones. Taylor also suggested that the city would be liable if someone needed to call 911 in an emergency and the phone had been removed.

The vendors urged city officials to remove the telephones as a “last resort” and allow the companies to explore other options, such as blocking incoming telephone calls, relocating them to areas with better lighting or higher pedestrian and car traffic, and changing from a “touch” tone to a “pulse” tone in the dialing mechanism so that beepers cannot be accessed.

City officials said that while some telephone companies and business owners have cooperated in previous efforts to remove the phones from problem locations, the law was needed for instances when they encounter resistance.

Police said a phone would be removed only after it was well-documented through citizen complaints and police reports that the phone was a public nuisance.

In addition to reducing crimes over company phones and pagers, officials hoped to reduce other nuisance crimes that often occur around those pay phones, such as public urination, loitering and drinking liquor.

City Council members also expressed frustration that the deregulation of the telephone industry has resulted in a proliferation of pay telephones throughout their city. About 50 pay phone vendors do business in Santa Ana.

But Councilman John Acosta complained that the removal of pay phones would be an inconvenience. He said he made 77 phone calls from pay phones during August, and now, “thanks to our Police Department, I’m having to chase around looking for other phones.” Cities in Los Angeles County and Sacramento have implemented similar ordinances to regulate pay phones.

Times correspondent Jon Nalick contributed to this story.