[TowerTalk] Tower Laws in New Hampshire?

[Dick Green]

>K1VR:  No.  You must fill yourself in by going to Town Hall and
>PURCHASING a copy of the zoning bylaws, including the latest revisions.
>Never trust anyone else's word for what a bylaw says. And never take your
>legal advice from the lady behind the counter, or the building inspector.
> They are not on your side, may have never thought about the question,
>but still don't want to appear ignorant. After you've got the bylaw, then
>ask a VC how it compares with state law.


Excellent advice.

For about 15 years, my town in NH has had very generous regulations
regarding antennas. Basically, there are *no* height restrictions as long as
the antenna structure is within the lot's setbacks (generally 35-50 feet
depending on the part of town in question.) Also, there are no specific
engineering requirements (i.e., PE drawings and calculations are not
required.) If it looks OK to the zoning/building permit administrator, you
get the approval. His main concern is that the structure not require a
zoning variance. If it does, you can forget it -- those are practically
impossible to get without showing severe hardship. If there's no variance
required, they post the permit application on the bulletin board at the town
office for a couple of weeks and if no one complains, you get the permit.

The antenna ordinance replaced a previous height restriction of 35 feet. I
think the ordinance was pushed through back in the early 80's by someone who
needed to put a satellite dish on a pole to see over some tall trees or
something (this all happened before PRB-1.) The ordinance specifically
referred to private "receiving" antennas, but that didn't stop the
zoning/building administrator from giving me a permit for a 55-foot crankup.
An attorney told me the "receiving" clause could pose a problem if a
neighbor decided to sue, because the antenna was not strictly for receiving.
I figured that if worse came to worse I could just tell everyone I only used
the antenna for receiving and hope that no one experienced RFI (a technique
I learned at "The Wishing and Hoping School of Management".) But I never
installed the tower at that QTH because it would have been smack in the
picture window of a neighbor on the hill behind me, ruining his view and
property value -- aren't I a nice guy? (well, I'm sure he would have
sued...) However, the town did give another local ham a permit for 100 feet
of Rohn 45 with a TH7 and a 2-el 40M beam (his neighbors were sort of
surprised when it went up, but no one complained.)

I moved to a much better QTH for radio in the same town about 5 years ago,
and last year finally got around to putting up a tower. To please the XYL
(who has the toughest zoning laws in the state) I decided on a 70' U.S.
Tower remote-controlled rotating tubular crankup with a TH7. At 20-60+ feet,
the tower is completely screened by tall trees, so the XYL can't see it from
the house. The perimeter of my property is completely screened by more very
tall trees, so the closest neighbors, who are 1/4-1/2 mile away, can't
possibly see the antenna.

Given the generous antenna ordinance, I figured this installation would be a
slam dunk. So, one fine day last summer I trotted down to the town office to
apply for a permit. When I told the zoning/building administrator what I
wanted to do, he said, "Oh, you can't do *that*. It would violate the *new*
antenna ordinance the town just passed last week." Well, I almost passed
out! I hadn't heard a thing about a new ordinance and was stunned that it
had passed just a week earlier. Oh why didn't I get off my duff and get the
permit application in sooner!

But, as Fred recommends, I wasn't about to take his word for it. Maintaining
my cool and being as friendly as I could be, I said, "Oh, gee, I recall that
the old ordinance was pretty easygoing about antenna heights as long as the
setbacks were respected. How does the new ordinance affect that?" He
proceeded to pull out copies of both the old and new ordinances (it took him
about ten minutes to locate the latter) and we sat down to read them
together. We read the new ordinance first and he quickly realized that it
applied only to "commercial towers". He asked, "What was it you wanted to do
with that antenna?" I filled him in on Amateur Radio (with emphasis on
public service) and stressed that it would be a "private" installation, not
commercial (I quoted him chapter and verse about how commercial activities
are strictly forbidden on ham radio.) He looked over the ordinance some more
and remembered that it had been put in place to stem the tide of PCS towers
that have started to spring up on the hills in this area, ruining some
beautiful views. Even so, the ordinance simply restricts the height to 70
feet and requires a separation between towers of at least one mile. Not much
teeth in that one, either.

After reading the old antenna ordinance, and after more very friendly
conversation (in which I described how the installation would be completely
hidden from everyone's view, including my wife's), he agreed to approve my
permit (he missed the "receiving" part, too.) The application was posted for
14 days and no complaints were lodged.

In general, I think my installation might be able to withstand a legal
challenge from a neighbor, although that "receiving" clause could be dicey.
I think the real insurance against having to remove the tower is the fact
that no one can see it and no one experiences RFI (at 250 feet from the
house, even the XYL can watch TV without complaints during a contest
weekend!) Finally, the motto here in NH (embossed on every license plate) is
"Live Free or Die". Most people around here take that to mean, "Live and Let
Live".

Even so, when I wanted to clear a 100'x100' section of woods for the 40M
4-square, I called the abutting neighbor (who happened to have sold me my
house), and asked him to help me verify the property lines so I could avoid
cutting any trees on his property. I had previously run a string along what
I thought was the property line, using a compass, a long tape measure, and
the deed. I made sure the line was conservatively placed, so my neighbor
wouldn't think I was encroaching. He agreed to the line, but he asked that I
dump the chips from the trees no closer than 25 feet from the property line.
I asked why and he said, "Oh, that's a fire department regulation." I was
glad he told me that because I wouldn't have known -- and wouldn't have
wanted to move a huge pile of wood chips. I was glad I asked him over
because it seemed as though he would have been upset if I had just done the
cutting without consulting him (and he has a large gun collection...) This
way, he knows I'm willing to be reasonable -- so he is, too (of course, he
can't see any of my antennas from his house.) I know this strategy doesn't
work all the time, but sometimes it tends to be better to ask first around
here.

73, Dick, WC1M



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