A proposed ordinance that could give the City Council the ability to limit electric poles -- and other types of structures taller than 50 feet -- near neighborhoods is to be considered tonight. The proposal is the latest salvo in the city's battle against Florida Power & Light Co., which has proposed erecting a 90-foot, 230-kilovolt transmission line in areas west of Boca Raton and close to some neighborhoods on the city's northwest side.

"I think the whole point is we wish to be included in the decision-making process of where they're going to go," said Councilman Dave Freudenberg, who proposed the ordinance and lives in a neighborhood near the proposed power line route. The council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance tonight after its second public hearing on the issue. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road.

The ordinance was first proposed in October after Camino Real Community Church submitted plans for a 100-foot cellular phone tower located in a cross on their property. Electric poles were added to the list of items requiring City Council's approval after the FPL plan generated controversy.

The church has objected to the proposed ordinance, although there is a question about whether it would even be affected because the cellular tower cross already got approval from the city's Planning & Zoning Board.

Some city officials hope that the ordinance will hinder or stop the utility company's efforts to put power poles near Boca Raton neighborhoods.

FPL has proposed an 11-mile electric line that would travel north along U.S. 441 from the Rainberry substation near Glades Road, then go east along Yamato Road before heading north on Jog Road. The $7.5 million project also calls for rebuilding electric lines in the area of Jog and Clint Moore roads and adding a new substation at the intersection of Clint Moore Road and Military Trail. It also would include a new power line between the Pinewood substation on U.S. 441 north of Clint Moore Road and a transmission line a mile to the west.

Construction on the power line is supposed to be completed by summer 2003.

Freudenberg predicts FPL will mount a legal challenge to the ordinance.

The company has already questioned the city's legal authority to enact the height restriction.

The poles do not lend themselves to local zoning or conditional-use determinations by City Council and can only be regulated by the state Public Service Commission, FPL attorney Jean Howard wrote in a letter to the city.

"Electric facilities follow the growth within the state. Everyone wants and needs electric service. Yet very few wish to have the electric lines on their property or adjacent right-of-way," Howard wrote.