2. Staff Report - Amend 17.72.020 re antenna removal
01203.0035/809154.1
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 08/11/2022
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to initiate code amendment proceedings to amend
Chapter 17.76.020 (Antennas) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal
Code regarding unused antennas.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Initiate code amendment proceedings to amend Chapter 17.76.020 (Antennas) of
Title 17 (Zoning) of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code to prohibit the
maintenance of abandoned or unused antennas.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Christy Marie Lopez, Special Council, City Attorney’s Office
REVIEWED BY: Ken Rukavina, P.E., Director of Community Development
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
Section 17.76.020 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code (RPVMC) governs
antenna installations on privately owned property. This section of the RPVMC was
originally adopted in 1983, and has not been comprehensively reviewed and updated
since then.
As technology changes and expands, Section 17.76.020 can assist the City in maintaining
a community’s quality of life including its aesthetic vision and goals of the City’s General
Plan without running afoul of state and federal laws related to the protection of cert ain
antennas. As such, the City Attorney’s Office recommends that the City Council consider
amending Section 17.76.020 to add language that reinforces the City’s ability to regulate
antennas especially when it comes to abandoned or unused antennas.
A comprehensive code update to address antennas on private property will take a notably
amount of time and will likely involve community input. The City Attorney’s Office intends
to assist the City with these efforts in the coming months.
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CITYOF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
01203.0035/809154.1
As a first step, though, the City Attorney’s office is recommending a relatively simple code
amendment to Section 17.76.020 that would require the removal of abandoned and
unused antennas and their related support structures.
Antennas are most commonly installed on the roof and are particularly noticeable in the
community. Allowing unused and abandoned antennas to remain causes adverse
aesthetic impacts incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood and the general
character of the City. As such, the City Attorney’s Office is seeking to initiate a simple
code amendment that would require the removal of antennas and any supporting
structures after they have been abandoned or unused for six months or more.
If initiated, the code amendment process will begin with public hearings conducted by the
Planning Commission. In this case, the Planning Commission serves in the advisory
capacity and will forward a recommendation to the City Council for its consideration. Staff
anticipates this process to take approximately two months.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative action is available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Do not authorize code amendments to Section 17.76.020 of the RPVMC, in which
case the current practice as noted above will continue to apply.
2. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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