Fred,
My permit request went very badly. A nightmare, actually. The head of
the board was a former CB-er who did not like hams. Their basis for
turning me down (fear of TVI) was not even part of their board's
mandate, as I tried to point out. The "star witness" against me was a
neighbor who I spoke to at length on the telephone before the proceeding
(as I tried to do with all the neighbors), who then at the hearing
misquoted and miscontstrued everything I said.
My overall experience with planning commissions is as follows. When
you deal with the professionals -- e.g., the administrators -- you can deal
rationally. (I am still good friends with the local administrator -- who was
shocked at the outcome at my hearing). On the other hand, when you
deal with the local political appointees, watch out. In our area, local
officials are very ignorant about the limitations of their powers, and seem
to enjoy the arbitrary application of authority. Our county does get sued
an awful lot, and seems to lose quite a few times. I suppose I could
have took that route, but I did not want to commit the resources.
My current strategy is to work for a revision of the zoning ordinance
(which specifically limits only Amateur Radio towers, not any other kind
of tower).
-- Pat
N9RV
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