Pity we don't have Mr Bill Robertson's address. We could all send him a
qsl card....
Tom Dixon
zl2hgr@xtra.co.nz
IRLP 6931
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Bookwalter
Sent: Friday, 24 September 2004 5:39 a.m.
To: Rob Atkinson, K5UJ; towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the
OKsignal
"The
federal government in its infinite wisdom interceded
years ago on
behalf of
a small
minority of radio operators when they might have been
relevant to some
national
emergency and defense.
i wonder how the guy would feel had he been in the
path of one of those hurricanes or a major tornado
etc... we are irrelevant until needed then we are a
indispensable...
i actually had someone welcome my tower since in the
case of an emergency we might have a viable
communication path....
Dan N8DCJ
--- "Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com> wrote:
> another PRB1 victory of sorts...de rob/k5uj:
>
>
> Ham radio tower has the OK signal
> Wheaton says it can't deny request
>
> By Bob Goldsborough
> Special to the Tribune
> Published September 23, 2004
>
> Despite opposition from neighbors in [west] Wheaton,
> a proposed 42-foot-high
> ham radio tower can be built in a resident's back
> yard under federal law
> without any
> sign-off from local officials.
>
> John Siepmann, given the go-ahead recently by the
> city attorney, has been
> pitted against dozens of neighbors in the Farnham
> subdivision, many of whom
> have "NO RADIO
> TOWER" yard signs.
>
> Opponents believe the tower would be an eyesore, a
> safety hazard and a
> potential interference to their television and
> telephone reception.
>
> Siepmann, an amateur ham radio operator, first
> approached city officials
> requesting a zoning variation to allow him to build
> a 65-foot-high
> free-standing tower in
> the back yard of his Browning Court home. An initial
> look at the zoning code
> suggested the
> maximum height of such a structure could be 12 feet.
>
> After reviewing Federal Communications Commission
> requirements, which
> pre-empt municipal regulations and force local
> communities to be "reasonably
> accommodating" to
> amateur ham radio operators, city officials
> concluded they have no choice
> but to allow a
> tower of up to 42 feet, said city planner Brad
> Boese.
>
> That height was determined by adding Wheaton's
> 12-foot height limit for
> antennas that sit atop houses to the 30-foot height
> limit for single-family
> houses, Boese said.
>
> "`Reasonable accommodation' isn't really defined
> anywhere, so what we have
> to go by is what other communities in the area have
> permitted," he said.
>
> Siepmann has deferred his request for a zoning
> variation for the 65-foot
> tower, which would require City Council approval,
> until Oct. 12, and is
> asking for a
> building permit to allow a 42-foot-high tower. That
> request, submitted Aug.
> 19, is pending,
> with the Building Department having sent drawings of
> Siepmann's proposed
> tower to a local
> structural engineer for evaluation, said Joe Kreidl,
> director of building
> and code
> enforcement.
>
> Meanwhile, Siepmann's attorney, James O'Connell,
> said Wheaton's present
> ordinance doesn't meet federal requirements. He
> cited other communities that
> allow ham radio
> tower height limits of 65 feet or more.
> Unincorporated DuPage County, which
> is
> immediately to the west of Siepmann's property, has
> a ham radio tower height
> limit of 100 feet, O'Connell said.
>
> With a 42-foot limit, Wheaton officials "are wrong
> under the amateur radio
> law," O'Connell said.
>
> "We may very well petition the City Council to
> create an ordinance that
> meets federal requirements," he said. "I can't tell
> you what Mr. Siepmann
> will eventually
> decide to do. I recommended to him that he take the
> city up on its offer to
> issue him a
> 42-foot permit on the grounds that something right
> now is better than doing
> six months'
> worth of hearings, which can be very expensive. We
> are prepared to do that
> if we have
> to."
>
> Ham radio towers need to be tall, O'Connell said, so
> hobbyists can
> communicate clearly with fellow radio operators
> around the globe.
>
> "If you want to be able to talk internationally, you
> need to have your
> antenna above ground and above the surrounding
> trees," he said. "[Siepmann's
> neighborhood]
> is a wooded area."
>
> Siepmann's neighbors wish the entire issue would go
> away. Bill Robertson,
> spokesman for the neighborhood group that opposes
> the tower, said it could
> reduce property
> values.
>
> "Anybody living in a nice suburb today would assume
> that their neighbor
> couldn't put up a 65-foot tower in their back yard,
> but they'd be wrong,"
> Robertson said. "The
> federal government in its infinite wisdom interceded
> years ago on behalf of
> a small
> minority of radio operators when they might have
> been relevant to some
> national
> emergency and defense.
>
> "Now they're not, but the government hasn't gotten
> around to amending the
> law," he said. "We're hoping the city will find a
> court or a judge who would
> say that this
> is passe, and that it's no longer reasonable to
> expect a city to provide
> this kind of
> accommodation to a hobbyist."
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
> Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger!
> Download today - it's FREE!
>
hthttp://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting
> Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's
> more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|