The Planning Board in my town were pretty regular folk - mostly retired
working class men. I would never call them dumber than dirt (one was a
local attorney - I guess that counts for something, hi). However, when we
started discussing "other" towers in the area for comparison (and/or
precedent), and I pointed out the ~200-foot cell tower that went up just
outside the village only a year or two earlier, they looked at me like I had
three heads. Either they had no idea it was there (are hams the only ones
who notice that stuff?) or that it could not have anything to do with my
case. Someone quickly changed the focus of the meeting and we never got
back to that.
The good news is that they were more interested in the mechanics of erecting
a tower (was *I* going to actually climb it, etc.) than in anything else.
But I guess that was because no neighbors appeared at the meeting. ;-)
-Mike N2MG
At 11:29 AM 8/13/03 -0700, Steve Katz wrote:
>...and the board members were pretty much dumber than dirt
> -- about half seemed to be bored housewives who never had
> any sort of career, so volunteered for county service.
N4ZR wrote:
Well, you must have known you were going to get some flak on this,
Steve. A few years ago I testified in a county Planning Commission hearing
on a new tower ordinance (aimed at cell towers), and after the dust settled
(we won) I was asked to be on the Planning Commission. I did a 2-year
stint, and there are ALL kinds of folks who serve, from your prototypical
housewife to PhD statisticians and economists, to architects, developers,
and farmers, all with more willingness to serve than good sense, to judge
by the amount of abuse they absorb.
Just because they don't understand about amateur radio doesn't warrant
blanket condemnation. It's OUR job to make sure they get it right.
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