Agoura Hills puts new cell towers on hold

Agoura Hills officials have placed a temporary moratorium on cellphone antennas in the city. The moves comes in response to a proposed antenna on the campus of Lindero Canyon Middle School, which has met stiff opposition in the community.

In a unanimous vote Oct. 14, the Agoura Hills City Council adopted an emergency ordinance for a 45-day moratorium that prohibits new wireless facilities throughout the city. According to a report froom Assistant City Attorney Candace Lee, the moratorium will allow officials to review of its current codes and see if changes are necessary.

The Federal Telecommunications Act had previously limited the ability of U.S. cities to regulate the installation of wireless facilities, but recent court cases are giving the munipalities more power, Lee said. As a result, wireless companies may have a more difficult time challenging local regulations in court.

“Proliferation of wireless facilities in the city without proper controls poses a current and immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare,” Lee said.

The action in Agoura Hills would not stop the Lindero school antenna from being built because all current applicants in the city are being given an exemption. Still, the city hopes an alternative site for the school antenna can be found.

Council members Harry Schwarz and Bill Koehler opposed the moratorium for companies with applications pending, while council members Dan Kuperberg and John Edelston were in favor of the ban.

Mike Kamino, the city’s director of community development, said four cell tower applications were in various stages of approval in Agoura Hills.

Three of the four applications are on the south side of the freeway. The other application is for an antenna at Agoura High School.

If an applicant balked about the moratorium because its application was substantially complete, the city could adjust its policy, Kuperberg said.

Edelston sided with Kuperberg.

“The moratorium allows staff to bring back to council more evaluative tools,” Edelston said.

If the city finds that zoning changes would allow current applicants to find better locations, then putting them on hold for 45 days makes sense, he said.

Edelston reminded the council that the south side of the freeway will one day be the home of Agoura Village, which will be a mixed-use area of residential, retail and commercial properties. But cell towers already approved for the south side might not be an appropriate location once the village has been completed, he said.

Koehler urged caution.

“It wouldn’t be fair to applicants who invested time and money to get where they are today (to include them in the moratorium),” Koehler said.

Schwarz agreed.

“I don’t look at (cell antennas) as a tremendous impediment to the health and safety of the community,” Schwarz said.

During the 45-day moratorium the City Council will conduct a public hearing to determine whether the cell tower ban should be extended or allowed to expire.

The council has the ability to continue the moratorium for up to two years after its adoption, Lee said.