THOUSAND OAKS : School to Delay Antenna Request

Cal Lutheran University officials will ask Thousand Oaks city planners next week to postpone a hearing on the school’s proposed hilltop radio tower, a city official said.

A public hearing before the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission on the university’s proposal to build a 150-foot-high antenna on Montclef Ridge is scheduled for Monday. The antenna has drawn strong opposition from area residents.

Montclef Ridge is 740 feet above Olsen Road, planning documents show.

University officials have told city planners that they plan to ask the commission to delay the public hearing until January, said Michael J. Sangster, deputy director of planning and community development.

University officials “really believed . . . they need to conduct more of an outreach, public relations effort to try to better inform citizens in the area what this consists of,� Sangster said.

The university will try to address concerns raised by about 30 residents at a public hearing last month, university spokesman Dennis Gillette said.

Putting the tower on Montclef Ridge would ruin the view of the undeveloped hillside for hundreds of residents and the thousands of commuters who drive along Olsen Road, according to some residents who appeared at the earlier hearing.

Residents also expressed concern that the antenna may interfere with radio and cable TV reception in the area. In addition, the tower may pose a health hazard by emitting radiation, some residents said.

The university proposes to use the antenna for a new FM radio station that would have the call letters KCLU, Gillette said. Students would help operate the station, he said.

The radio station, which would be able to broadcast throughout most of Ventura County, would make Cal Lutheran University’s communications department competitive with those at other schools, Gillette said.

UCLA and Cal State Northridge are among the area schools that have FM radio stations that broadcast beyond their campuses, he said.