Both houses are ours, so it is our own property line we are crossing!!
Notwithstanding that fact, about 10 years ago, we were in fact hauled in front
of
the Planning Commission precisely because a busybody had seen the tower up when
driving by, noted to her friend that if the tower ever fell to the south, it
would
hit the "neighbor's" house, and called the zoning folks to ask how close a tower
could be to the next property, which led to an inspector, a citation, and a
$900 filing fee to file for a commission meeting for a waiver request.
The new tower replaced a 60 foot EzWay that had been there since 1981 with
TH7DXX (Serial 1) which didn't cross the property line. I had been involved
with DARC when the original Antenna Ordinance was approved and knew that
towers to 90 feet were allowed, and I knew I was behind the required setback in
the
front yard (well, at least when the array is pointed East or West), but I
didn't
think at all about the adjacent setback to my own adjacent property when I
relocated the tower to only 10 feet from the property lines in 2003.
At the meeting, we explained ham radio to the council, several of whom were
aware of
the good things - one had been in Nam and had used ham radio phone patches.
During the swearing in to speak, I had been aware that someone behind us had
also
stood to swear in to speak. It turned out to be the sole neighbor who is
directly across the street from the tower and the only neighbor with an actual
view of the tower; everyone else north or south has the view blocked by our
trees
and their trees, and this one neighbor whom I barely knew, testified that he
thought
the tower was just fine and we were fine neighbors, and also reminded the
council
that our house backed up to a 150 foot easement with pair of 125 KV circuits
on 125 foot towers, so no one could claim our tower was an eyesore or impacted
the views! The committee initially voted unanimously to grant the waiver to
approve the tower, but the City of Dallas lawyer interjected, with sadness to
them,
that the Planning Commission does not have the authority to approve crossing
of a property line, that takes a State Court action.
(Currently seven companies have lines that cross our property line at the
back!).
But there had NEVER been a complaint (and I had had to distribute a letter about
the waiver request to 40 or so neighbors so they all knew of the request), and
when I met with the city lawyer after the hearing, and asked if she was aware
of PRB-1, (the Federal Law that hams must be accommodated), she not only replied
she was quite familiar with it, she quietly agreed that I would have to go to
State Court to pursue a decision to override the commission, ultimately, and
she was certain that I would prevail there because of PRB-1, but as there was
no actual complaint from any neighbor, and since I had also retracted the tower
to 32 feet, in a 28 foot high permitted zone, so it was even less visible,
she hinted that the City was probably not interested in pursuing any violation.
Nothing further has occurred.
By the way, prior to the hearing, six or seven of the planning commission
folks had had three meetings with us to try and find a way to avoid the
hearing. Everyone there was helpful, but one of them of Mexican origin was
especially helpful. Turns out during the 1985 Mexico City earthquake,
when all the phones in the DF Capital were working but no lines in/out
of the city did, Judy and I were one of several teams in Dallas that
handled thousands of Red Cross messages, and Judy had actually called
this guy's wife to tell her that her family was safe. After the earthquake,
the Mexican Consulate had a big dinner for all of the Dallas hams who had
been involved.
73
Barry, W5GN
-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of J. Hunt
via TowerTalk
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2016 7:47 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fwd: Lightning Damage, Crane used to replace Orion
Positioner
Interesting story and situations.
One question though, I looked at the QRZ webpage, it appears that the antenna
elements extend into / over your neighbors yard.
How does your neighbor feel about the invaded airspace?
James
ki5dq
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