ENCINO : Residents Protest Transmission Tower

For the second time in less than a month, AirTouch Cellular has found itself battling Valley residents over the installation of a transmission tower.

This time the ruckus is in Encino, where one neighborhood is balking at an antenna system the communications company has proposed for the top of a Ventura Boulevard office building.

“We can send people to the moon, but we can’t find another location,” said Gary Davis, who lives near the building at 17547 Ventura Blvd.

Davis said he filed an appeal on Tuesday, seeking to have the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals rescind its recent approval of the project.

AirTouch spokeswoman Melissa May said the company had met numerous requirements in planning the system and made several changes to satisfy planning officials.

“It’s as kosher as kosher can be,” she said.

The outcry in Encino sounds very much like one that emanated from a Northridge neighborhood last month, eventually prompting AirTouch to cancel plans for a 75-foot tower in a residential area. Both antenna projects have been aimed at increasing cellular telephone coverage and capacity in the Valley.

The system in Encino, however, would consist primarily of panel antennas about four feet in diameter and resting on stands. Even on top of the three-story building, they would not stand as tall as the project proposed in Northridge.

May said the antennas would also be shrouded with screens to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Led by Davis, at least 15 neighbors have signed a petition decrying the transmission facility, citing the unknown effects of electromagnetic energy and the equipment being an eyesore.

And while it does not exceed city planning and zoning height restrictions, Davis said, it does violate those of the Ventura-Cahuenga Boulevard Specific Plan, which limit a building’s highest point to 30 feet.

“The specific plan supersedes the old plans,” he said. “And it’s ignored all the time.”

With Davis appealing the project, it will likely be several months before a final decision is made.