East County Issue Cal Lutheran Radio Tower

The Thousand Oaks City Council will reconsider a decision by the Planning Commission to allow Cal Lutheran University to build a 150-foot-tall radio tower on an undeveloped hilltop. Opponents say it will destroy views and harm the environment. Proponents say it will enhance the educational program. Should the tower be built?

Jerry H. Miller, President, Cal Lutheran University The KCLU radio station will be an integral part of the total education and service efforts of the university. We have been planning for this station for more than five years in very specific ways. The station will be a valuable asset, not only for the students and faculty of the university, but it will also be an excellent educational and cultural asset for thousands of listeners in Ventura County. The radio station will further enhance the university’s outreach and service of Conejo Valley and the rest of Ventura County. We believe all the environmental questions have been properly addressed in the environmental impact report. We respect the sentiments of our neighbors, and we believe that the benefits of the radio station for the entire community will far outweigh any discomfort or inconvenience.

Jerrold Hagel, President , Rancho Santa Rosa Property Owners Assn. I support the college, but I feel the rationale for choosing the Mt. Clef site rather than Rasnow Peak--the other site suggested by the EIR--was very contrived. The university claims that Rasnow Peak was economically less suitable for them. They own Mt. Clef, and I feel that they just didn’t want to pay rent for Rasnow Peak. They also said that Rasnow Peak was technologically unsuitable for their radio signal, and Mt. Clef is the only place that will enable them to reach a larger audience. But that does not outweigh the impact the tower will have on the environment. The structure, which will be silhouetted against the sky, will not be consistent with the city’s ridgetop guidelines. Rather than put the 150-foot structure on top of the empty ridgetop, they could have easily put it on Rasnow Peak, where there is already a cluster of antennas.

Andrew P. Fox, T housand Oaks planning commissioner I support the radio tower because of the benefits that will be derived by the community of Thousand Oaks and the rest of Ventura County. The project will also help CLU stay on par with other four-year universities. The only downfall that I can see is that it needs to be placed on a ridgeline. There is no alternative site. If there was, I would have picked it. The tower is not a development or a solid structure so the effect will be minimal. The tower does not have lights and it’s see-through and will blend in somewhat. I’m not minimizing the importance of its effect on the people who live near the site, but they and the students at CLU will be the only ones who see it. It will not be viewed by the rest of Thousand Oaks and the people driving through the city. As far as the city’s image is concerned, the tower will not have a large impact. I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

Irving Wasserman, Thousand Oaks planning commissioner I oppose the radio tower mostly because of the damage it will cause to the ridgeline. The argument for the tower, aside from the benefits to the university and the community, is that there are already several things, like the cross and big letters, that already damage the ridgeline. But the 150-foot tower far outdoes anything since the city’s ridgeline ordinance was passed. The ordinance, under certain circumstances, allows radio antennas on hillsides, but I feel that this doesn’t outweigh the damage that will be done to the environment. The tower is also a hazard. It will be a danger to low-flying aircraft, because there are no lights. The FCC only requires towers that are 200 feet or taller to have warning lights. From a technical standpoint, it is better for CLU to put it on Mt. Clef in order to reach people outside Thousand Oaks, but I still don’t think that is a good enough reason to damage the hillside.

Lynn Bickle, Resident who lives near Cal Lutheran University I am against the tower because it will be built on one of the last parcels of land that creates the ring of open space around the city. It’s an ironic situation. The city passed an ordinance to protect the ridgeline, but once you get away from the freeway corridor, you can definitely see that the city has allowed repeated building on the hillsides, disregarding prior restrictions that were placed on development tracts. I support the idea of having a public radio station, but in this particular instance, the benefit doesn’t outweigh the damage done to the environment. Ignoring this small community of about 100,000 in order to reach an audience of 400,000 is incredible. The idea that their needs far outweigh the effects the tower will have on nearby residents is wrong. They are not offering the community anything that is not already available through television or other radio stations.