Scott, I read your posting with both interest and fear. The fear is the
potential problem you may have here with your neighbor. My first
recomendation to you would be get that sucker in the air NOW! I know you
may be pushing time, however I think it would be in your best interest to
get it up now, before any other problems arise. This one neighbor could
make or break you as far as erecting the tower, which i'm sure you are
aware of.
I'm not an expert at this, but your biggest problem with that neighbor is
not in having the city council prepare a restriction, but for that
neighbor(s) to sue you over this.
Several months ago, the local uhf tv station that has a tower in town
(1465') (home shopping club) applied to increase their tower height and
size, from a 6' face guyed tower to a 10' face guyed tower. They had to go
before the zoning board of appeals because it was increasing the
non-conforming use of the structure. Boy, you should have seen the
opposition from everyone in town! I went to every meeting on this, both as
an opposer (yes I can see 1/2 of it out my back windows) and with interest
in the proceedings.
NUMEROUS (20+) people that lived around the tower, which is in a commercial
zone but is bordered by residential lots, showed up to voice their
opposition to it, and it was interesting to hear what some of them had to say.
Several said that it devalued their property value, but after looking at
the recent house sales in the area, that was not indeed the case, with
several houses within 3-4 lots of the tower selling for at or above market
value since the tower was erected. Numerous new houses were also built on
the same street, and they went like hotcakes. Remember this is 1465' tall,
not your 72' ham tower. This is a rural/country area, Population about 16,000.
Many people spoke up about the health hazards associated with it, radiation
etc., that was shot down fairly quickly with nothing to back it up.
Others took a stand on asthetics, and in the end of the hearings, that was
basically how it got shot down by the zoning board.
But alas, it was not the end. The tv station sued the town, it was reviewed
by the judge, and she issued a ruling to the town that basically said they
could not deny the permit on asthetics alone, but only on the actual issues
they were involved in, namely increasing the non-conforming use of the
structure.
Well, they finally ruled that even with all the opposition presented, it
was not increasing the non-conforming use, and they were given a variance
to erect a new tower at the same height, but with a larger face size, which
the tv station had bowed to doing because of the initial opposition on
increasing the height.
Our town has had a height restriction of 100' for some time now, with a
hearing before the ZBA before it can be increased above that. This was
passed after the tv tower went in about 10 years ago. This has not been
detrimental to any ham towers yet as far as I know, however, after the tv
station scenario, they have been trying to get a new bylaw onto the books
for towers for the last two town meetings. It has not succeeded as of yet,
but this May is the next town meeting and I think it will happen then.
A friend of mine Paul,K1XM had similar opposition from his neighbors years
ago when he put up a 100' Rohn 45 with a kt34xa and 3 el 40 fullsize
monobander near the top of a hill in a residential area. I remember them
hooting and hollering back then, I don't think it ever went to court, but I
know it caused him alot of grief. I do know the tower and antennas are
still there today, so it's pretty evident that the situation calmed right
down. I know for a fact there that the housing values did not decline, as
my parents house was one street down the hill and directly below him, and
they sold their house 6 years ago for a real nice profit. I will see him
today at the NEDXCC convention, and will try and pick his brain on what
happened in his situation for you.
If I was you, I would contact the ARRL and talk to them about your
situation. I'm sure they have run across this many times over the years.
They could at least point you in the right direction. Also, not wanting to
volunteer his services, or put him in a spot, but Atty. Fred Hopengarten
K1VR is a subscriber here too, and he may be able to help you with an
initial direction to go in. He's a real smart cookie, and he does alot of
ham tower legal work, and has had some problems with his neighbors too.
Good plug Fred? :)
I wish you the best of luck in your installation, and hope you can keep the
neighbors at bay, and please keep us updated on how things turn out.
Scott
KA1CLX
Hudson, Mass.
At 11:21 PM 10/11/97 -0500, you wrote:
>SITUATION:
>
>I live in the City of La Crosse, Wisconsin. I plan in installing a 72 foot
>self supporting tower on a corner city lot, roughly 165'x 75', with no CC&R
>or deed restrictions. (see plot of land and tower placement at
>http://www.QTH.com/ka9fox/plot.gif) The tower is fairly large, the base is
>4 feet wide and the tip will be about 2 feet wide. Tower is rated for 22
>sq feet of wind load at 85 mph. Proposed antenna is 30 foot boom yagi
>(Force 12 C4XL) plus 6m and 2m beams (and wire dipoles).
>
>City building inspector is familiar with amateur radio and somewhat
>familiar with PRB-1 and advises me that there are no zoning regulations for
>amateur radio tower installations, but asked me to voluntarily get a permit
>for the tower base, which I did. The tower base has been inspected and
>approved by the building inspector.
>
>Concrete was poured today and the first section of tower is in the air (8
>feet). Neighbor across the street is extremely upset about the installation
>for aesthetic and property value reasons. This neighbor is canvassing the
>neighborhood, probably to gain support for some sort of action against my
>installation.
>
>QUESTION:
>
>What is my best plan of action? I don't know this for a fact, but I am
>assuming that the only thing the neighbor can do is to go to the City
>Council and ask them create a restriction for my type of installation. I
>was thinking of getting some information on PRB-1 from the ARRL and get
>that information to all city council members ASAP. Am I over reacting?
>
>Any ideas, thoughts, supporting documents, etc., would be greatly
appreciated.
>
>73 - Scott KA9FOX
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