The Sunnyvale Planning Commission was supposed to address the original item, which was a 62-foot-tall pole, on Sept. 19, but after deciding to lower the tower to 52 feet, the item was put off until November.

Cingular representative Kelly Pepper said that the need for a new pole arose when Cingular engineers found a coverage gap in the area. A coverage gap is a space in between towers where customers lose calls or get poor reception.

The center of the gap is actually one block north of Fairbrae at the intersection of W. Remington Drive and Hollenbeck Avenue.

That is the ideal location for a new tower, but because a city ordinance prevents the placement of towers on residential property with homes, the nearest alternative is Fairbrae, a residentially zoned property without homes.

"Without this site, Cingular would need to build three or four other sites around the area that would only provide 60 to 70 percent of the coverage that this site could," Pepper said.

Further complicating the issue is the shape of the site, which limits the tower's location and height, because of setback rules. For every foot that a tower is tall, it must be two feet from the nearest residential property. The tower, as planned now, is 52 feet tall and just barely beyond the 104-foot setback distance. The tower would replace a light pole that illuminates the club's tennis courts.

Although the proposed tower is 10 feet shorter than originally planned--Pepper says it would be useless if shorter--at least one neighbor is still concerned.

Dick Pretel--who says he would see the tower from his backyard and dining room--said he worries that the tower will drive property values down.

"I think it's going to be difficult for anyone to come in and buy a house with a view of a pole like that," Pretel said.

The rest of the speakers at the meeting--including neighbors and members of the club--supported the pole, often saying that they were Cingular customers who had coverage problem in the area.

"We live in a wireless world where everyone wants service for their wireless phones, and this will provide it," said Nick Steinmeier, Fairbrae board president.

He also said Fairbrae hopes to use the rent money paid by Cingular to develop environmentally safe "green" programs to heat the pool and bring electrical power to the club. The equipment box for the tower will be built where old, inactive solar panels sit now.

The pole was approved in a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Dave Simons objecting.

"It looks to me that Cingular and the Fairbrae club have worked together to find the best location for this site," Commissioner Jim Fussell said.