The Los Angeles City Council authorized the City Attorney Tuesday to prepare an ordinance amending the city’s municipal code regulating the placement of telecommunication towers and equipment. The new regulations, which are supported by the Pacific Palisades Community Council, would amend the city’s ordinance regulating Above Ground Facilities (AGF) and would allow the City to exercise greater control over the placement of cell towers and their aesthetics, according to city documents. The PPCC stated in a letter to the City Council that it strongly supported the City’s Public Works Committee’s findings, which ‘recommended that the AGF ordinance be amended.’ ’Having worked on this problem for more than three years, I am delighted that the City Council today unanimously voted to require certain crucial amendments to the AGF ordinance, including eliminating the utility pole exemption and requiring the applicant to prove a gap-in- coverage if it seeks to erect a cell tower in the public right of way,’ said Chris Spitz, vice president of the PPCC. ‘We are especially grateful for Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s leadership on this issue.’ Presented by Councilman Rosendahl, in his first City Council appearance since his cancer diagnosis, the motion recommends that the City’s AGF ordinance be amended to remove the AGF (Above Ground Facility) exemption for utility poles, ‘enhance existing aesthetic criteria in the AGF to be consistent with the County of San Diego and City of Palos Verdes Estates Decision and to require the applicant to provide proof of a gap-in-coverage as to reasons why a cell tower installation is necessary.’ Also, the revision would require ‘that all residents within 250 linear feet of the proposed facility be notified via registered mail and by a method selected by the applicant.’ ’We think [the City Council’s decision] is good news and reflects the fact that the city realizes that the towers destroy property values and harm the beauty of communities,’ said Trevor Neilson, a Palisadian who started a petition to stop an AT&T cell tower on Mt. Holyoke at the Via de las Olas bluffs. ‘It’s a clear message to AT&T that they need to engage the Palisades community about their plans.’ Via de las Olas neighbors oppose a tower anywhere on or around the scenic bluffs area, or the pocket-park where people enjoy gathering to watch sunsets. Currently, the City’s ordinance does not address the concept of cell-phone coverage gaps. Under federal law, if a gap in coverage is found, no municipality can reject a telecommunication company’s application for a cell tower. However, when Rosendahl’s recommendations are incorporated into the revised AGF ordinance and approved by the City Council, proving that a gap of coverage exists would be the responsibility of the applicant and not the City. Also, the aesthetic criteria as recommended by Rosendahl would give the City greater control over the regulation of cell towers. Both the City of Palos Verdes and San Diego set precedents in 2009 when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld their rejection of two wireless construction projects on aesthetic grounds. ’We don’t have to choose between good design and good cell phone coverage,’ said Eric Garcetti, mayoral candidate and 13th District councilman. ‘I want to thank the folks from Brentwood and Palisades who have been a big part of pushing this forward but it’s really all throughout the City. High income, low income, everybody wants to have control of their communities and to have good-looking communities. I think this is an important step in that direction.’ The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal decision found that the aesthetic grounds for appeal did not violate the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which often prevents municipalities from actions that would prohibit the construction of wireless facilities.
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