Spanish Radio Station’s Request for Larger Generators Denied

Rural property owners won a battle Tuesday against efforts by a Latino radio station and prominent members of Orange County’s Latino community to place larger generators in the Santa Ana Mountains.

After a contentious public hearing, the County Planning Commission denied a request by station KPLS to replace two generators with larger units at its transmitting base in the environmentally sensitive mountain site from which it delivers Spanish-language programming to county audiences.

Property owners in the area off Black Star Canyon Road told the commission that the more powerful generators would further disrupt the mountain serenity and even pose a fire danger as more fuel was carried to the site for the larger generators.

“What we have up there is enough,” property owner Larry Johnson said. “Who wants to live near a place like that?”

The property owners’ complaints came after officials with Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, the Orange County Hispanic Bar Assn. and the Diocese of Orange offered support for the station.

“It would be a disservice to the Hispanic community if this station was not able to operate more efficiently,” said local MALDEF representative John Palacio.

Station officials said the new generators were needed to erase interference that has been detected in local transmissions. They claimed the interference has kept away potential advertisers.

The commission pointed out, however, that the station might have an avenue of appeal. According to county government rules, the commission might be required to hold a second public hearing on the request. If it again refused to allow the larger generators, the station could appeal to the Board of Supervisors. But commissioners said they planned to seek clarification of those rules.