Element Power's proposed ``Wildflower Renewable Energy Farm,'' a 250-megawatt facility, wanted to install five towers on a 3,284-acre site known as Healy Ranch.

However, local residents claimed the towers would endanger a wide variety of local birds, including golden eagles, peregrine falcons and other raptors, as well as destroy the beauty of the nearby California Poppy Reserve.

The board voted to deny conditional use permits for six meteorological towers, each about 200 feet tall, intended to assess the feasibility of the Element Power project, which would generate power for more than 70,000 homes.

The research project would have allowed Element Power to install a single tower on a nearby 40-acre vacant site. Three of the towers would replace three current 85-foot towers already in use on the site.

Representatives from Element said it would amount to no more than ``putting in a traffic line to get an accurate traffic count.''

Without the meteorological data gathered from the towers, Element said, the company would likely be unable to gather sufficient information in its environmental report to get approval for the final project.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who represents Antelope Valley, agreed  that the towers posed a risk to birds and aircraft and that residents had a right to ''retain the rural character of surrounding towns.''

The board's vote overruled the Regional Planning Commission, which had previously approved all six towers.