Council May Regulate Cell-Phone Antennas

A driver chatting breezily on his cell phone as he speeds down the freeway may be a quintessential L.A. scene, but the unsightly antennas sprouting citywide to carry such calls shouldn’t be, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said Tuesday.

Miscikowski introduced two motions calling for regulations on the design and placement of cellular phone antennas and the utility cabinets that house telecommunications equipment.

“No one could have predicted the number of cellular phone antennas that would be required to meet the demand of the burgeoning cellular phone industry,” she said.

Standing before photographs of squat green cabinets and soaring metal antennas, the councilwoman warned that without some rules, Los Angeles will become the “dumping ground” of the telecommunications industry. She said nearby cities, including San Fernando and Beverly Hills, have already adopted ordinances to keep antenna blight at bay.

Kathy Delle Donne, a Tarzana resident who documented the spread of cellular phone antennas as part of a graduate school project, said there are at least 700 antennas citywide. Most of them follow the path of the freeways, she said.

Miscikowski proposed an ordinance that would strengthen the city’s control over utility cabinets and conduits, many of which are plunked along sidewalks, and another that would address the appearance and location of the antennas. She said she had heard from many residents concerned about the proliferation of such “community eyesores.”

“Hopefully, there will be some guidelines about how close these facilities can be to residential neighborhoods,” said Laura Yablon, a Woodland Hills resident who successfully appealed a city planning decision to allow an antenna in her neighborhood. “Hopefully, other communities facing the same thing will get more support.”

The council is expected to consider the motions next week.