By Dan Scanlan
          Staff writer

          Legislation that could ensure the city's 2-year-old telephone tower
          ordinance would never again be misinterpreted to allow a digital telephone
          antenna 30 feet from a neighborhood could be voted on by the City Council
          as soon as Tuesday.

          Councilman Dick Kravitz filed the bill just before five residents at the
          July 14 City Council meeting protested the Building and Zoning Division's
          decision to allow Sprint PCS to put a taller pole and antenna behind the
          Autumn Glen Estates community south of Loretto Road.

          The residents say the city misinterpreted its tower ordinance in allowing
          the antenna atop a Jacksonville Electric Authority power pole. Kravitz
          agrees, saying his bill would prohibit antennas on an existing tower or
          light pole unless the applicant gets a zoning variance.

          The bill would eliminate antennas being placed on any pole, whether on a
          transmission tower or atop a light, if they are within 250 feet of a
          neighborhood, Kravitz said.

          ''The best thing for the city to do is to realize they made a mistake and
          order it down,'' he said. ''The best thing is that Sprint realizes they
          made a mistake. If they want to be a good neighbor, whether they think they
          are legal or not, they ought to take down the pole.''

          Sprint PCS replaced an 80-foot pole with a 100-foot unit June 6 as part of
          a new all-digital telephone network it's readying for a late summer
          introduction in Jacksonville and Gainesville. Permits for the taller pole
          and antenna were approved by Building and Zoning Division Chief Tom
          Goldsbury and the General Counsel's office in May under the tower ordinance.

          Sprint spokesman Dan Wilinsky said a taller power pole was needed because
          the existing pole was too short, and said it is legal. But residents who
          protested the pole during the July 14 council meeting said it wasn't.
          Jeffrey Smith, whose home is closest to the pole, was one of them.

          He complained to Goldsbury June 8, saying the construction violates the
          ordinance, which should have allowed that antenna only atop the existing
          power pole, not a new one. He said Goldsbury told him the taller pole was
          allowed as part of an existing structure, namely the power poles on the JEA
          right of way.

          Smith said Kravitz's bill is good because it prevents what happened to him
          from happening again. Still, he said, the real problem may not be with the
          existing ordinance, but with how the city interpreted it.

          ''There is nothing wrong with the ordinance the way it is. Someone made a
          mistake in Building and Zoning, and they need to admit that and fix it,''
          Smith said after the council meeting. ''The thing is a complete violation
          of the code as it exists.''

          Suzanne Jenkins, who worked with the City Council when it modified the
          tower ordinance to restrict antenna locations near homes in 1996, said the
          same thing to the council July 14. She later said the existing ordinance
          was ignored when the antenna was installed.

          ''I can't believe the general counsel interpreted the ordinance in this
          manner. It blows my mind,'' she said. ''There is no doubt in anyone's mind
          that it [the ordinance] was to protect residents by keeping these at least
          250 feet away from residential property. If it happened in Mandarin, it
          could happen anywhere.''

          Those comments sparked an intense debate among some council members July 14
          on the city's decision to allow the pole. Kravitz called the city's
          decision to allow the taller pole and antenna an ''honest mistake.'' But
          any contention by the city that the new pole was just a change to an
          existing structure is wrong, he said.

          ''That is a bogus interpretation,'' Kravitz said. ''We want to see this one
          taken down.''

          Council president Don Davis also questioned the legality of the antenna
          during the July 14 council meeting, and wants Sprint PCS to move the
          Mandarin antenna.

          ''We as council members feel that in this particular case, that exception
          doesn't apply because they did not put this antenna on an existing pole,''
          Davis said afterward. ''They replaced a JEA power pole, building one that
          is bigger, taller and wider ... That shouldn't be allowed in our ordinance.''

          Wilinsky said Sprint officials are surprised at the controversy over the
          antenna, and said they are willing to meet with the city, JEA and neighbors
          to solve the problem.

          ''We are willing to sit down and talk with all parties involved to come up
          with a palatable solution in the spirit of being a good neighbor. We would
          like to leave that [solution] for the discussions. We don't want to rule
          out anything,'' he said. ''That Mandarin site is critical to our launch
          efforts, which are coming soon. If we don't have a structure like that in
          Mandarin, we won't have services there.''

          Kravitz's bill is under review by various council committees this week,
          then could be voted on as early as Tuesday's meeting if a majority of
          council members decide it is an emergency measure.