New City Rules Dictate Location of Cellular-Phone Antennas

Acting to stave off the growing problem of electronic eyesores, the Simi Valley City Council voted Monday night to adopt a set of rules governing the installation of cellular phone antennas.

The rules, approved by a 5-0 vote, are meant to strike a balance between the cellular industry’s need to fill gaps in its transmission grid and residents’ dislike for stark, unadorned hardware intruding on their skyline.

The city’s new Wireless Telecommunications Ordinance offers new locations and rules for installing antennas: It places lots containing several large water tanks in the city into specially dedicated zones, in which cellular phone providers will be allowed to apply for antenna permits.

These include 13 tanks on land owned by Waterworks District No. 8 and the Southern California Water Co., but specifically excludes two tanks at Wood Ranch and one on the Mt. Sinai property at the city’s northeastern edge.

Because the antennas are nonpolluting and low-maintenance equipment, city staff determined that they would not have any adverse impact on land use, water, cultural resources, traffic, city services or recreation facilities.

Neighbors of one proposed antenna site at Wood Ranch told the council they worried that electromagnetic frequency emissions by certain types of antennas might harm their health or lower their property value.

“We live within 200 feet of the tank, and the proposed site would be 400 feet from my dwelling,” Richard Maguire said. “Potentially, I’d be able to see this antenna through my kitchen window.”

However, Mayor Greg Stratton stressed that city staff will review each antenna application and consider the health risks and the proximity of antennas to nearby homes.

“We don’t want it 10 feet from somebody’s backyard,” Stratton said. “We control it, so that we can make that decision.”

City staff began looking into regulating the placement of cell-phone antennas last spring, after antennas erected in several locations around the city spurred protests before the Planning Commission.

Large cellular carriers such as AT & T and Pacific Bell have begun installing more antennas inside city limits because obstacles like hills and tall buildings cut off cellular phone calls.

The city halted action on applications from other cellular providers until it could draft this current set of rules, which the Planning Commission first approved Oct. 9.