[Towertalk] Building Permit or Not

[Ken Kinyon]

A short version of my experience.
I called the city building department and asked a building inspector what I
needed to do before erecting a tower.  I was told "we don't regulate those
things, you don't need a permit."  foolishly in retrospect, I accepted that
reply.  I put up a 50' crank up in my back yard according to manufacturers
specs.  9 months later, I received a   letter from the city stating that I
had a tower in my yard and that they had no record of my building permit.
It turns out that my neighbor who is an engineer researched the building
codes himself and filed a written complaint with the city without informing
me.  The building inspectors seemed very intimated by his engineering degree
although he is a chemical engineer.
As it turns out, there is whole section in the city building codes
pertaining to amateur radio towers.  the inspector who talked to me at first
was ignorant of this or perhaps just ignorant.  Due to the fact that the
neighbor kept interfering at every turn and even got the city attorney
involved, I ended up having to hire a structural engineer.
My base had to be made larger and in the process the set back requirements
were more rigidly defined.
the end result:  due to the size and shape of my lot, my tower is in my
front yard about 10 feet from my front door.
The lessons learned:
1. Read the building codes yourself.
2. Insist that you be issued a permit.  if you have a properly permitted and
inspected tower, you will be protected from future actions.
 I am certain that if I had a permit it the first place, my tower would
still be in the back yard on its original base.
I hope my experience helps some one in the future.
73,
Ken W7TS

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Kenneth E.  Kinyon
34 Princeton Circle
Longmont, CO 80503-2106
Voice: (303) 684-0037
Fax:  (303) 776-5088
E-mail: W7TS@earthlink.net
	  W7TS@qsl.net
	  W7TS@arrl.net
ALPCA #8339
ARRL-LM
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