FIRMS ASK CITY TO OK TRANSMITTERS.

Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer

The City Council is expected to decide whether to answer a telephone request tonight that has been on hold since March.

AT&T and Pacific Bell want to locate two 14-foot-tall wireless communications facilities on part of the Meadows Reservoir site, north of Janss Road and east of Conejo Creek Park. The facility would provide for paging, and cellular and messaging service, said Jon Morris, real estate manager for the Cellular Division of AT&T Wireless Services.

The companies plan to camouflage the equipment as much as possible, but residents still have complained about what the project will do to their hillside.

``Our concern is the visual blight and the impact to the recreational use of this land,'' said Nora Aidukas, who lives near the proposed site.

The Planning Commission rejected the city staff's recommendation and instead voted 3-2 to deny the project on March 24. Now AT&T and Pacific Bell are asking the City Council to overturn that decision.

``It's a good project,'' Morris said. ``It's going to have a very low impact.''

The council is scheduled to discuss the issue at its meeting 7 p.m. Sept. 2 at the Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.

Project supporters must contend with opponents who cite a variety of reasons from visual to environmental impacts for wanting the Planning Commission's rejection upheld.

``They don't want it there at all,'' Morris said. But ``from our perspective, that's the best location. They want it anywhere but there.''

Some residents have cited potential health problems caused by electromagnetic or radio waves produced by the facility. But each of the 15 channels on AT&T's system will transmit at just 10 watts, hardly enough to affect anyone living in the area, Morris said.

``This is not something that should be a concern,'' he said. ``This is very low power. It drops off exponentially as you move away from the site.''

The benefits of cellular phones outweigh any supposed risk from transmissions, Aidukas said. Instead, Aidukas is concerned for the thriving ecosystem in the hills around her home.

``We want the city to make sure the environmental analysis is complete before they move ahead with something that will have cumulative impacts,'' she said. ``The impacts are many, not just visual.''

Residents like Aidukas have expressed concern that allowing one antenna will lead to a forest of others sprouting up around town like oak trees.

But the desire for more antennas and more coverage is exactly why Shirley Binyon hopes the council approves the plan. Although she will not benefit from the current project, she eventually hopes to buy a cell phone to go with the pager she carries in case her disabled husband needs her assistance.

``I would like to be able to communicate,'' Binyon said. ``I need the cell phone.''

Right now the couple cannot receive even radio transmissions at their Skelton Canyon Circle home.

The project has been in the works for the past 2-1/2 years, and is one of a few planned for the area, Morris said. Other projects will not be nearly as noticeable as this one, but this site is necessary if the company hopes to keep up with demand of users in Thousand Oaks and commuters on the Moorpark Freeway, Morris said.

``We're at capacity,'' he said. ``We can't handle the volume of traffic at the moment.''

Before the site was selected, surveyors performed soil and biological tests and officials obtained permits, Morris said. The company poured all those resources into the site to make sure it was the best location, he said.

``AT&T's not in the business of wasting money,'' Morris said. ``In this area there's not any good choices.''

That the companies have spent so much money on the project is a sign that perhaps the site is important and was not chosen on a whim, said Councilman Michael Markey. Markey agreed that expanded coverage for Thousand Oaks is necessary.

``There are areas in this city that are very bad as far as service,'' said Markey, moments before his own cell phone hit a dead spot and lost its transmission.