The new flashing red lights on the KBLA antennas in Echo Park.  Photo courtesy of Merrick Morton

There was a Seinfeld episode in which a Kenny Rogers Roasters (a fried chicken place) opened across the street from Kramer's apartment with glaring neon lights that flashed on and off all night.  Kramer became visibly frazzled and somehow conned Jerry into switching apartments.  Jerry, of course, became visibly frazzled but was unable to get his apartment back from Kramer who was secretly enjoying take-out from Kenny Rogers.  As comedic fiction, it was pretty funny.

Life is reflecting art today in Echo Park, but in this case it's impacting the quality of life of hundreds of people, and it's no laughing matter.

The Red Lights and the Red Flag Go Up

From the time they were erected 35 years ago, the four KBLA radio antennas at Alvarado and Glendale Blvd had been unlit.  In all that time, there have been no reports of planes or helicopters flying into them.

Recently the high-wattage, flashing red lights were installed, and on June 11 they were flipped on.  People within a one-mile radius with windows facing the towers now have intense blinking red lights coming through their living room and bedroom windows.  And they're feeling frazzled.

This is yet another problem being caused by the high-powered radio antennas that historically have generated static on local cable TV reception and forced KBLA broadcasting through local stereo speakers and local phone lines.  KBLA is owned by Radio Unica, based in Miami, who owns the largest chain of Spanish-speaking radio stations in the U.S.

Two days after the lights were turned on, the alarm went up on the Echo Elysian Neighborhood Council Forum, an active online community messaging board.

"Probably connected with 'Homeland Security'!"

"These lights are driving us nuts! …In two years in this house [in Silver Lake] they've hardly been noticeable.  Now, it's like airport landing lights or emergency beacons 24/7!"

"Does this have anything to do with the heavy LAPD helicopter traffic over our areas?"

"Are they building a landing field?"

Local activists swung into action.  Calls went out to City and Federal legislators, to Radio Unica, to representatives of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC) and the Echo Park Improvement Association (EPIA).

A Long-Overlooked FAA Rule

As it turns out, KBLA was required to install the lights by a long-standing but overlooked Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rule.  The FAA rule states that any tower over 200 feet in height must have flashing lights in order to be clearly visible to low-flying helicopters and planes.  The KBLA towers are 205 feet tall.

KBLA recently made upgrades to its broadcast equipment at the antenna site.  It filed for the requisite permissions from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who regulates airwave broadcasting in the U.S., and from the FAA, who doesn't want planes crashing into antennas.

For the first time in 35 years, someone at the FAA looked at the recorded height of the towers and remembered the rule.  The FAA subsequently notified the FCC and KBLA that the lights had to be added.  Since this was an existing rule, the action was not subject to public review.

In order to complete their broadcasting upgrade, KBLA spent a reported $70,000 to install the brilliant flashing lights on the four towers.

Possible Solutions, Unlikely Speed

Residents of Echo Park and Silver Lake gathered at a meeting of the EPIA this week to discuss the issue, to vent their anger, and to find out what could be done.  Gayle Greenberg, Field Deputy for Congressman Xavier Becerra, explained the situation to community members who strategized with Greenberg on how to address the problem.

In an email to local activist Robin Blackman, Radio Unica manager Bill Jenkins claimed that Radio Unica is seeking a compromise with the FAA but refused to attend the EPIA meeting.

In his message to Blackman, Jenkins stated that he did not "especially want a Radio Unica presence there.  I feel the conversation would reinforce the mistaken idea that we have the ultimate ability to resolve what we know is an inconvenience and imposition on our neighbors.  Which we most certainly do not.  …Please remind the attendees at your meeting that this is an FAA issue."

Some attendees suggested solutions to the problem that night which seemed obvious and almost overly simple.

Some thought that since the FAA ruling applies to towers over 200 feet, why not just take six feet off the top of these 205 foot towers?

One EPIA member suggested that since a tower's height is measured from the ground it stands on, why not just pile six feet of dirt around the base of each tower to raise the ground level, thereby reducing the measured height?

One resident suggested that KBLA had out-grown the neighborhood.  Between their need for unsightly antennas, brilliant flashing lights, and broadcast power that interferes with neighborhood lives, maybe they should think about moving their transmitters all together.

According to Jenkins' email, Radio Unica has contacted the manufacturer of the lights to see if it's possible to reduce their intensity.

With multiple levels of government and a major national corporation involved, a solution is unlikely to be swift in coming.  But local neighbors and activists are organizing and developing their leverage.  Representatives for LA Councilmember Eric Garcetti and U.S. Congressman Becerra are two of the primary government contact points.

Local residents and business people who are interested in helping with this issue, who would like to add their voice, or who would simply like to follow the issue, can join an email notification list by sending a request to the BigRedLights mailing list or can subscribe to the EchoElysianNCForum newsgroup on Yahoo! (see below).

Contacts:

Email News List: BigRedLights@hotmail.com

Newsgroup: Yahoo! EchoElysianNCForum

Gayle Greenberg, Field Deputy
gayle.greenberg@mail.house.gov
Congressman Xavier Becerra
1910 Sunset Blvd, Suite 560
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 483-1425

Benjamin Fiss, Field Deputy
bfiss@council.lacity.org
Council District 13 - Eric Garcetti
3525 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 473-7013