Planning Commision Public Hearing

[Jim Reid]

At 06:20 PM 1/10/97 UT, you wrote:

>  My understanding is that I will have 
>to appear before the city planning commission in a public hearing format.  
>Anyone who cares to attend can do so.  Although I present myself well (we are 
>amateur operators after all) I have some anxiety over this proceeding.  I 
>can't help but wonder if I'll be wandering into a lion's den.

Aloha Joe,

Yes,  everything of which you wrote was required of me out here
on Kauai.  And it was all caused by very hostile neighbors!!  I had
put up my MA-550 US Tower tubular  without any zoning variance or
permits,  as the local amateur community had told me none was needed
or had been needed by them.  But,  I was a  "hauole"  (pale skinned one)
from the mainland,  and had neighbors who complained the very day
after I cracked up my Cubex 4-element,  30 boom length cubical quad!

And I  will admit it was an eye sore.  My wife despised it!  The neighbors
called
the island government,  and I was obliged to go down and apply for both
a zoning variance and a use permit.  Bot would only be required if I ever
wanted to crank the rig higher than 30' the height of the average palm
tree around here,  and therefore,  the max height to which anything can be
set up without zoning variance and a use permit.

After nearly 4 months of bueraecratic fooling around the public hearing
came to be.  I had spent the time getting a lot of info from the ARRL and
prepared a several page written statement.  I read the statement out loud
to all the assembled multitude at the hearing.  This included nearly 20
angry and upset neighbors,  the full council,  and a few interested island
hams;  one of whom works as the island government emmergency
communications engineer.

I also gave a chalk talk at the council "green board" illustrating the
relationship
between the antenna take-off radiation angle and height of the antenna.  I was
pitching the value of being able to communicate to the US mainland,  the
Phillipine Islands, to Taiwan and to Japan.  I was selling the value to the
ethnic community of the island,  of which caucasions are only a 17%
minority,  the ability to communicate to those countries in case of
emergency either here or their to provide communications for family
members here on Kauai.

Unfortunately,  one of my neighbors caught the word "radiation" that
I was  using,  and turned that into a long tirade about his kids being
unconciously and randomly impacted by dangerous radiation emminating
from that horrible thing looming above the neighborhood.  This resulted
in a convienient "out" for the planning commision who referred my
request to the State Department of Health,  and specifically to a real
idiot who was the Director of Hazordous and Toxic Environmental
Pollutants!  He determined almost immediately that I would have to
hire a professional engineering consultant from the mainland to perform
field tests,  and prepare a comple written report comparing my radiation
against US Government and State of Hawaii Government startdards of
electromagnetic radiation!

I screamed to the ARRL; they gave me the name of one of the volunteer
ARRL attorneys who lives over on Maui,  about 200 miles from here.
After much discussion about the situation with him,  he both wrote to
and visiterd the State Director of nonsensical impediments to getting
anything done.  But he would have nothing to do with the fact that
at that time (mid-1992) that there were no real US or State policies
norf documents establishing real electromagnetic environmental limits
about amateur radio emmissions.  He was adament that the requested
tests and report be prepared for his files,  before he could sign off
to the Kauai Planning Commision that our neighbots were not going
to be endangered by my signals.

In the meanwhile,  two other events took place,  of which the Planning
Commision took account,  and eventually voted in my favor and completely
ignored the environmental wacko!  My station was the saving relay station
for a commercial ship in the Caribbean,  this was written up in QST for
March 1993,  page 90 (which I explained to the Council was only
possiuble because I had,  without their permission cracnked my
antenna up to about a 45 foot height).  We also suffered the worst
hurricane ever to strike a Hawaiian island,  Hurricane Iniki, in Sept.
of 1992.  I spent about 2 1/2 weeks on the UN emergency frequency
of 142658 sending off island health and welfare traffic for just about
everyone living on this part of the island -- we had no phones,  no mail,
nothing for about 4 weeks after the hurricane!  Fortunatly,  I have
a 5 kW Honda generator so I was up and operating within a day and
a half after the hurricane using a 20 meter loop of wire!

As a result,  at the Planning Commision meeting  of November, 1992,
the first they held after the storm,  my permits were granted as
the first item of business,  with no objections from any of my
neighbors!

Anyway,  be sure you are getting the latest relevant documentation
from the ARRL regarding other jurisdiction decisions about antenna
towers;  perhaps get the name of a nearby ARRL volunteer attorney,
and you are welcome to a copy of the several page statement I prepared
which was my formal pitch to the Planning Commission at the Public
Hearing.  And I reccomment that you prepare and read your statement;
that way,  everything that is important about PRB-1 will be brought 
forward,  together with your situation and value to the neighbor
hood in event of an unknown and now unexpected disaster (Like,
perhaps,  a great earthquake in you community).  Of great
value to you ought to be the recent FEMA statement to the FCC about
the value of amateur radio in emergency situations!!  Get the relevant
stuff from the ARRL,  and send me your address so I can mail you
a copy of my stuff,  Joe.  Read everything,  and don't assume that
the Council members will be aware of anything else other than your
drawings,  and how terrible the neighbors have told them it will look,  and
how foolish it would be for them to permit you to put that thing up!

I know this is long,  but I hope of use to you.

Good Luck and 73,

Jim,  KH7M
On the Garden Island of Kauai
P. S.  Forgive the miss-spelled words!


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