Commission will consider Cingular's phone pole request

LA CA—ADA FLINTRIDGE ? Public Works and Traffic commissioners will again consider a request from wireless company Cingular to install a new telephone pole with four antennas on Highland Drive at a meeting tonight.

The request was heard at a meeting in February but the commissioners postponed their decision after two residents on Highland Drive complained that the facility would impair the view from a room at the back of their house.

The commissioners asked Cingular, represented by BMS Communications in the Simi Valley, to present images of the proposed changes to the pole so that they could better judge its potential effect on the surrounding area, at the public meeting tonight.

The proposed changes involve replacing the current pole with a taller one, adding cross-arms for four antennas and constructing a retaining wall to house three equipment boxes, said Steve Castellanos, director of public works.

"The application is pretty complete but we will have to see whether it can satisfy all of the findings at the meeting," said Castellanos, who added that the commissioners would have to take into account the potential effect on neighbors and the surrounding residential area.

Dawn Witte, chairwoman of the Public Works and Traffic Commission, said she and her colleagues welcomed the input of local residents at the public meetings ? whether they were for or against the proposal.

"We want to make sure that the neighbors are all comfortable with what's going in, that they understand what's happening and that they actually know what is happening in the first place," Witte said.

"The application was first heard in December but it has been moved forward till January and then February because we all had questions and we want to make sure we have good information before we make the best decision that we possibly can."

It's the first time the commission has had to consider a request to install telecommunication facilities in a public right-of-way since wireless company Sprint sued the city for denying two applications to install antennas on Descanso Drive and Figueroa Street in 2003.

The city's decision to reject the applications, initially supported by a U.S. District Court judge, was later overturned by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who ruled in Sprint's favor in January.

They found that the city could not reject cellphone towers or equipment on public rights-of-way because of aesthetic concerns and that they could only do so on the grounds that they hindered public access.

The city has since requested a rehearing and, until then, Cingular's application, which was filed with the city before legal proceedings began, will be considered under an existing ordinance ? not the temporary ordinance that prevented Sprint's applications, said Castellanos.

FYI

WHAT: Public Works and Traffic Commission meeting

WHEN: Wednesday, March 15, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: City Hall, 1327 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge

CONTACT: (818) 790-8880