Unless you plan on being a champion of antenna rights, if you’re flexible,
wouldn’t it be best to find a spot with the most ham-friendly policies?
Land of the free, home of the HOA…
73, kelly, ve4xt,
> On Feb 7, 2017, at 12:15 PM, Hans Hammarquist via TowerTalk
> <towertalk@contesting.com> wrote:
>
> My town (in Vermont) has 40 feet as the local hight restriction and accept an
> other 12 feet "sticking up" above present structure. The zoning board was not
> against me putting up an 85 foot tower but required a hearing as I needed a
> variance. My problem was the neighbor that didn't want "the horizon of nature
> be disturbed by technology. Due to an administrative mess-up the hearing got
> delayed for a year. When I finally got my permit it was autumn and I had to
> wait for the spring to get my tower up. I missed the peak of the solar spot
> cycle. Well, more will come.
>
> ARRL was able get me in touch with an attorney that help me for free. He was
> very helpful. There are also several court cases available on line. The
> favorite is a case from Florida where the judge ordered the town to pay for
> the ham's legal fee (~$18.000). I had that case with a few other in my
> application to "soften up" the zoning board. It is always good to indicate
> that they may up getting additional expenses if they decide to "fight". Most
> towns don't like extra expenses.
>
> A fun note: My neighbor tried to stop the permit by claiming I was going to
> use it "to eavesdrop on telephone conversations" as my son had demonstrated
> for them how he was able to listen to a phone conversation "from northern
> Vermont" which is about 130 miles from our house located on the southern tip
> of Vermont. They also highlighted the possibility of "radioactive radiation"
> from the tower. Don't you love these people?
>
> Hans - N2JFS
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ed Sawyer <sawyered@earthlink.net>
> To: towertalk <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Tue, Feb 7, 2017 1:31 am
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Advice on tower restrictions possible new install
>
>
> K6OK stated -
>
> "Wouldn't you want the opposite? If a county has a blanket height
>
> restriction on all types of structures, and that height limit is
>
> lower than my planned towers, then I would avoid that county
>
> unless it had a ham tower exemption. If a county has cell phone
>
> tower regulations (which are common), I would avoid that county
>
> unless they exempt ham towers from those rules.
>
>
>
> But if you can't change counties, having these restrictions is not
>
> necessarily a deal-killer. You might have to apply for a use permit
>
> or a variance, requiring more time, money and anguish.
>
> Unfortunately there's no guarantee they will approve your application."
>
>
>
> I am not a lawyer certainly. K1VR and the ARRL support services are a good
> way to get proper advice. That
>
> Being said, you never want to ask for a "variance" against a law that
> doesn't apply to you. You want to state
>
> That your request is not restricted by the current regulations. Its NOT a
> commercial permit for a tower, its
>
> A personal use auxiliary structure. So any clerk telling you otherwise
> should not prevent you from doing what you
>
> Want to do.
>
>
>
> Its also a protected use under Federal Pre-emption - PRB-1. The fact that
> the state or county/city/town has not
>
> Enacted language in their law to accommodate the pre-emption, should not
> dissuade you from exercising your federally granted rights.
>
>
>
> I think the question is to decide what the response is after sizing up the
> situation. Has the state enacted PRB1 language? If so, what does it say
> about your plans and what are you up against. Do the local regulations
> mention the case of personal antenna supports or not.
>
>
>
> Certain local groups are up for a fight and certain ones don't want a legal
> battle especially if no neighbor is complaining. Here in rural Vermont -
> they were "thankful" for the guidance and glad to hear they weren't going to
> be 200 ft tall.
>
>
>
> Note that none of the above deals with HOAs which is a horse of a different
> color.
>
>
>
> Ed N1UR
>
>
>
>
>
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