Thousand Oaks to Consider Law to Avoid Phone Tower Blight

Hoping to prevent a rash of cellular phone antennas from scarring the city’s vistas, the City Council on Tuesday will review a proposal to avoid the visual pollution that phone towers have brought to other communities.

The ordinance, drafted after the city received a flurry of requests from companies wanting to build antennas, would require mobile phone companies to take steps to reduce the blight the antennas might cause.

The new law was approved by the Planning Commission last month.

“More and more people are using cellular phones, and we’re going to see more of these requests, not less,” said Mayor Judy Lazar, who convinced the council in November to enact a temporary moratorium on cellular antennas. “Given the visual standards this community is known for, it is important that we look at these requests carefully while allowing the phone companies to do business.”

Under the ordinance, phone companies would:

* Bring all antenna proposals before the Planning Commission for scrutiny and approval.

* Build cellular antennas primarily in industrial, commercial and public land zones, using residential and open space sites only as a last resort.

* Paint antennas to match their surroundings, or place landscaping around them for cover, while trying to make the sites as small and “aesthetically pleasing” as possible.

* Make sure roof-mounted antennas do not exceed a structure’s height by more than 15 feet.

* Notify Thousand Oaks of any other places the companies might want to build antennas in the future.

* Downsize antennas and reduce their visual impact when less unsightly ones become available, and restore abandoned antenna sites to their natural condition.

* Prove to Thousand Oaks that antennas meet Federal Communications Commission guidelines for electromagnetic radiation.

Throughout Ventura County and the nation, last year’s Telecommunications Reform Act has prompted a rash of new and old companies to take advantage of the growing demand for cellular phones and pagers.

The federal law strictly prohibits local governments from shutting out companies that want to provide wireless communication services in an area, and also prevents cities from banning cellular phone towers on the grounds that their emissions are unsafe, leaving that power to the FCC.

But it still allows cities to regulate the way the antennas look, and to put standards in place for how such applications should be processed. It also allows cities to check and ensure that cellular phone towers meet the FCC’s health and safety guidelines.

To that end, numerous cities, including Simi Valley last year, have enacted ordinances regulating the appearance and location of cellular towers.

Some cities in Orange County have even decided to allow the use of fake palm trees and other disguises to cover up the antennas. But Lazar said such sleight of hand may be just as ugly as the towers.

“I’m not interested in plastic palm trees in Thousand Oaks,” she said. “I’m not even interested in plastic oak trees. We can deal with these issues in a different way.”

Councilwoman Linda Parks believes the proposed law is a step in the right direction, but does not go far enough because it still allows cellular towers in residential areas. She believes Thousand Oaks can keep the antennas out of neighborhoods without blocking phone companies from providing their service to all areas.

“This [ordinance] might help address the visual impacts, but the issue to a lot of people is, do you really want something like that in your backyard?” Parks said. “This would basically allow them to go anywhere, even though it says we prefer certain areas.

“These antennas are an eyesore, and keeping them out of scenic vistas and residential areas should be more of a priority than this,” she added. “I don’t see this ordinance taking care of that. I don’t think that would be unfair to businesses to do that.”

Lazar said she too would like to keep the antennas out of neighborhoods if possible.

“I certainly don’t think residential areas are good locations for these things,” she said. “I think they belong in commercial and industrial zones.”