Manhatten Beach

The City Council has introduced an ordinance that would allow roof-mounted satellite dish antennas only within building height limits and would require all dishes to be screened from public view.

An earlier proposal by the city Planning Commission requiring all dishes to be no more than six feet in diameter and constructed of a mesh screen that only partially impairs views was rejected when the council learned that there are no mesh dishes less than eight feet across available in the Los Angeles area.

Instead, the council followed the wording of a Santa Ana ordinance that requires fencing or landscaping to screen antennas from view. The ordinance was introduced with a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Bob Holmes opposed.

If final approval is granted at the next council meeting on Aug. 6, the ordinance will take effect in early September.

Holmes said he opposes the new wording because a solid fence would also block views and could be more visually objectionable than an eight-foot mesh dish.