HUBER HEIGHTS — With the latest in telecommunications unexpectedly sprouting as the newest unwanted lawn ornaments, cities are looking for ways to balance aesthetics and technology.

AT&T is expanding the installation of its Video Ready Access Device boxes that power U-Verse, a bundle of television, telephone and Internet access services.

The metal VRAD boxes, 54 inches high and installed on concrete pads, are popping up in utility right-of-ways on public and private property, where AT&T purchased an additional easement from the homeowner.

It has caused consternation with homeowners and their neighbors who were unaware that the VRAD box installation was going to mean a large metal object in their front or side yards.

Huber Heights Councilwoman Karen Kaleps said she was first contacted by a resident who was shocked when he came home to discover something the size of a small shed in his side yard. The box sits on a 10-foot-wide slab, five feet of it on his property. Utilities generally have easement rights on sections of private property as well as in the public right-of-way.

"That was done way back when and intended for utility poles or a buried utility of some kind," Kaleps said. "Not for this kind of huge structure."

Huber Heights passed initial legislation June 9 to require a permit before installing new or replacement utility structures with a dimension of more than 36 inches in height, width or depth, and for new smaller structures when placed in the front yard. Utility poles, boxes attached to buildings and new small structures or replacements of any size in side or rear yards are excepted.

To get the permit, utility companies must notify all property owners within 100 feet, locate the box in the place of least impact and provide some screening.

Kaleps said since the city passed the legislation, AT&T has been in contact and the city is talking with the company, as is Kettering, to see how they can work together to place the boxes.

Kaleps also is concerned about AT&T purchasing additional easements, usually for around $2,000, next to existing rights-of-way.

"If we have to someday widen the roads or put in sidewalks, we could be prevented from upgrading because that thing is in the way," she said.

Riverside City Manager Bryan Chodkowski told Riverside City Council June 19 that AT&T had been in touch and the VRAD boxes are coming.

Vandalia recently passed legislation similar to that passed by Huber Heights, requiring a permit and regulations on the location and screening of the boxes on private property.

"We don't want them to be an eyesore to the community," Communications Director Rich Hopkins said. "But we also want to help provide new technology to everybody who lives in Vandalia. We're trying to find the balance there."