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Council directs staff to draft citywide standards for telecommunications facilities
Summary
Following public complaints about visual clutter and sidewalk‑blocking equipment, the council approved motions asking planning, engineering and the city attorney to prepare design and siting standards for antennas, monopoles and equipment boxes and to return within 60 days.
The Los Angeles City Council approved motions directing the planning department, city engineer and city attorney to develop citywide standards for the siting and design of telecommunications facilities, including antennas, monopoles and equipment cabinets.
Kathy Deladani, speaking for the Tarzana Property Owners Association, told the council that many neighborhoods are already seeing equipment boxes and monopoles installed in residential areas and sidewalks and urged uniform guidelines to minimize visual and pedestrian impacts. "Antennas clutter the landscape... Large equipment boxes are being placed throughout residential areas," she said during the public hearing.
Councilmember Sekowsky moved the motions (items 27 and 28), describing them as a request that staff return within 60 days with proposed standards for aesthetics and public‑right‑of‑way placement. Supporters emphasized the need both to protect pedestrian access and to provide consistent rules so Los Angeles is not treated as the "dumping ground" for facilities that neighboring cities regulate more tightly.
Council discussion identified several implementation priorities: ensuring sidewalk clearance, reviewing the size of equipment cabinets (some described in demonstration photos as 3–6 feet in one dimension), and creating a public review process for right‑of‑way installations that currently are signed off administratively by the city engineer. Members suggested camouflage techniques (for example, structures designed to resemble trees or consolidated rooftop placements) as options to reduce visual impact.
The motions passed on the roll call with the council recording 14 ayes. Council directed staff to return with draft guidelines in about 60 days, at which time the planning and public works committees will review them and the council may adopt implementation ordinances.
