Council to Consider Antennas Atop Mall

An application to install nine wireless antennas on the roof of Laguna Hills Mall will be reviewed by the City Council tonight.

The city staff has recommended approval of the Cox Communications equipment, which would rise a maximum of 7 feet from the roof.

Planners say that there would be little visual effect from the installation.

Under the proposal, a screen would be erected in front of the antennas. The barrier would be painted to match mall colors.

All nine antennas would be within a 500-square-foot area of the roof between the Broadway and Sears department stores.

The antenna application is the second to come before the council and the first in more than two years.

At least four other sites in Laguna Hills have been researched as possible antenna locations, including Saddleback Memorial Medical Center and the Carlota Plaza at Avenida de la Carlota and Interstate 5.

A bid by L.A. Cellular to build a 61-foot monopole behind the Honeli Plaza at Alicia Parkway and Interstate 5 is on hold while ways are sought to make the pole less visually intrusive.

The antennas are being erected as part of a push by the wireless communications industry to bolster personal communications such as cellular telephones.

The council meeting is at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 25201 Paseo de Alicia.

Information: (714) 707-2600.