Sunland : Both Sides to Appeal Ruling on Antenna

A city planning official fashioned a compromise to allow the installation of a cellular phone antenna facility on a Sunland hillside, but both the applicant and nearby homeowners vow to appeal the decision.

After conducting a hearing Monday at the Van Nuys Woman’s Club, zoning administrator Albert Landini approved a permit request by L.A. Cellular Telephone Co. to construct a facility for its communications equipment, provided that a tower holding several antennas be limited in height to 42 feet. The entire facility also must be painted to blend in with the hillside.

“This kind of radio communication is an asset,” Landini said. “The concern on this is the visual blight.”

The hearing drew a handful of homeowners opposed to the facility and Tom Henry, a planning deputy for Councilman Joel Wachs, who asked for further information on how the tower would look once it is constructed.

Homeowners, who wrote letters and turned in a petition containing 65 signatures against the facility, also expressed concerns about the antennas’ effect on television reception and exposure to radiation from cellular radio waves.

“I feel it’s like a high-tension wire hanging over my house,” resident Barry Colvin, who plans to file an appeal, said after the hearing.

Dan Hare, a representative for the Cerritos-based cellular company, said the company will probably appeal the 42-foot limitation. The company initially sought permission to construct a 60-foot-high tower.

“We can’t live with that. It’s just not feasible,” Hare said.

The tower and a 240-square-foot building would be located about 400 feet from the intersection of Sherman Grove Avenue and Day Street.

Landini approved two other requests by L.A. Cellular to build facilities on roofs of buildings on Riverside Drive in North Hollywood and Sherman Oaks. In addition, he approved a request by PacTel Cellular to construct a similar facility on San Fernando Road in Granada Hills.