PASADENA - A simple cross and concrete bench mark the end of the stony berm meandering past Tomoko Copon's home in Southwest Pasadena.

Stepping past a low-slung chain on Church Street, nearby residents treat the brush-littered, hilltop trail as their own mini Arroyo Seco - a great place to walk their dogs and contemplate serenity amid prime real estate.

Given the nearly 360-degree, panoramic view atop the hill behind Hillsides, the location is a perfect perch to penetrate the surrounding topography with a strong signal and light up all the bars of residents' cell phones.

But after two years of ardent - some have said zealous - opposition from a group of neighbors to a planned cell phone tower there, city officials believe the signal might soon just fade away.

The campaign against the proposed tower has spawned a Web site, lawn signs and scattershot arguments from opponents. But for the past year, they've lacked one thing: an opponent with which to spar.

After signing an agreement with Hillsides in early 2006, Cingular - now AT&T - and its consultant have been no-shows for 13 months at a series of hearings before the City Council, which Monday plans to grant its sixth continuance on the tower proposal.

For all of the objections raised by opponents - the unknown perils of electromagnetic radiation, harm to the site's "fragile" ecosystem, and impact on property values - opponents are now being told the tower could prove a phantom menace.

Councilman Steve Madison, who in late 2006 intervened on their behalf to bring the project before the City Council, said it's been "radio silence" from AT&T.

Planning Director Richard Bruckner described the communication from the telecommunications giant as "surprisingly little."

Residents, Madison said, would likely prevail without having to take a shot.

"Sometimes justice delayed is still justice," he said.

This past Monday, Acting City Manager Bernard Melekian said AT&T may have lost its appetite to erect the tower and may now "have a different perspective on whether that cell tower needs to go in there at all."

In that context, Melekian suggested something of an ultimatum to Moser Consulting, AT&T's agent in the deal: show up on May 5 or don't bother.

"Should this come forward for (another) public hearing, staff will not recommend any more continuances," he said, adding that he didn't know why so many had been agreed to.

Moser Consulting lists an address in Chino, but isn't in the phone book. Calls to one phone number listed in city records went to an inactive voice-mail service. An employee answering a second phone number said owner Jennifer Moser was unavailable.

Hillside Executive Director John Hitchcock could not be reached for comment.

Even if the current application lapses, opponents said they're worried about what could come next, after a moratorium on new cell tower applications expires this summer.

Miriam Nakamura-Quan of the Pasadena Neighborhood Coalition said she worries one installation will precipitate others.

Peering from the hill toward Mount Wilson, she said neighbors worry the hill will eventually look the same, with a cluster of antennae bristling from the top.

"After the moratorium is up after June 18, there could be a flood of these things," she said.Before the moratorium expires, the council plans to have a new ordinance in place, Melekian said in a recent interview.