IRVINE : Committee Revived Over Cable Boxes

The city’s Cable Committee has been resurrected to deal with an issue that has raised much public ire--the installation of above-ground cable boxes in front of homes in the Woodbridge and Northwood villages.

The committee held its first hearing on the matter Tuesday and will hold a second on Jan. 12.

The City Council voted last month to reconvene the panel, which was suspended in June after completing a comprehensive study of cable television in Irvine.

The committee’s task now is to take public testimony on the cable box issue and report back to the City Council.

Dimension Cable, which is owned by Times Mirror Co., began installing hundreds of the metal boxes on grassy public easements earlier this year as part of the company’s effort to improve picture quality and increase the number of channels available to consumers.

The boxes, which stand as tall as three feet, contain electronic equipment such as amplifiers that Dimension officials said cannot be placed underground, as many residents have demanded.

Homeowners have protested the installations, saying the boxes are ugly and will drive down property values.

City officials said there is little they can do for residents because Dimension’s franchise agreement with the city gives the company the right to use public easements to provide cable service.

But with anger over the boxes simmering, the council last month agreed to call Cable Committee members back into action to examine the controversy.

William C. Mavity, a member of the committee, said a goal of Tuesday’s hearing was to measure public sentiment and develop a list of issues that will be discussed in more depth at the second meeting, to be held Jan. 12.

“We want to get a list of topics together to look at,” Mavity said.

The committee plans to invite representatives of Dimension Cable as well as various city officials to speak at the Jan. 12 meeting, which is also open for public testimony.

Mavity said one question he would like to have answered is whether the equipment inside the boxes can be placed underground.

City officials have also expressed concern that some residents have persuaded Dimension Cable to remove the boxes while other residents’ requests for removal have been rejected.

The Jan. 12 meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall. It is scheduled to be televised on cable television.