[PaQSO] EPA Antenna Hearing (Part 3)

[Hank Greeb]

I'd say, "Don't Panic" - this isn't the first such case, I'm sure it 
won't be the last.

There are many places which haven't "caught up" with PRB-1.

In my experience with two townships, one in SW Ohio (Colerain TWP, 
Hamilton County), and another here in Michigan, (Holland Township, 
Ottawa County), it pay to mount a low key, non-legal proceeding with the 
zoning board/township/governing body.  In the Hamilton County situation, 
the ham involved contacted me AFTER he had requested a hearing by the 
Zoning Board of Appeals, so he had to pay something like $400 fee for 
the hearing, and it involved neighbors who were complaining about his 
plan to put up a modest (60' if I remember) tower.  Two of us Volunteer 
Consulting Engineers (VCE), plus the ham in question, met with the 
attorney for he township and the head of the zoning board of appeals, 
and explained PRB-1.   We also brought citations from numerous cases 
where the plaintiffs won their cases, some getting as high as the 
Supreme Court of the state.  We had to suffer through two public 
hearings, where the neighbors were allowed to issue complaints, etc., 
but we also had 10 or more hams who were ready so support the local ham.

In the case of the Holland Township, Ottawa County, I gave the ham who 
wanted to put up a modest tower copies of these court rulings, plus 
cited several township ordinances in the same and surrounding counties 
which permitted 70 to 100' towers.  The zoning board acquiesced to his 
without a formal hearing.

Now, since your ham friend seems to have developed an adversarial stance 
against the townships in Pennsylvania, that presents a "sticky wicket."  
These things often result in legal action in court, and are 
sometimes/usually long, drawn out, and expensive. If the officials in 
the townships are still willing to talk with civility, then perhaps a 
meeting between the ham, one or two VCE's, maybe with you as Legal 
Counsel, though that is often considered threatening by local officials, 
and the officials of the governing body.  Explain that 70 to 100' has 
been considered "usual" for ham radio towers in other locations (I trust 
you can find several townships in the vicinity which allow that height), 
cite the cases where legal action has resulted in a win for the ham.  
Info on how to find these cases is available from HQ.

The ham involved will "probably" need to pay a fee and suffer a review 
by the "Zoning Board of Appeals" or whatever Pennsylvania calls this 
body, because 180' is typically higher than allowed under residential 
zoning.  But, again, armed with data which I cited above, they 
"probably" will allow this.   Legal action through courts, as you are 
well aware, can be costly, even though the outcome is almost certain in 
favor of the ham radio operator.

Panic, as expressed by your 4 part diatribe, is definitely NOT a way to 
approach the matter.

Best wishes for your ham radio friend.

72/73 de n8xx Hg
QRP >99.44% of the time
Volunteer Consulting Engineer, Michigan
Professional Engineer, State of Ohio

On 4/23/2014 11:25 AM, TwelveVDC--- via PaQSO wrote:
> Dear Fellow Amateur,
>
> I write to you as I believe you may be a radio amateur residing in or about either Tredyffrin or Schuylkill Townships in Chester County. Each township has recently taken a formal position against amateur radio operators in zoning matters. As a representative elected by members ofthe ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, in the thirty-four counties of our Eastern Pennsylvania section, and as an amateur radio volunteer legal counsel for the ARRL Atlantic Division for over thirty years, I wish to bring an important development to your immediate attention. I am presently acting as legal counsel to Jeff DePolo, WN3A.
>
> Jeff is a very active radio amateur assisting Amateur Radio Emergency Service units in many different counties in and throughout the Eastern Pennsylvania section, most notably in Southeast Pennsylvania. If you do not know Jeff personally, you may be familiar with his repeater systems he owns or maintains: the University of Pennsylvania linked system N3KZ (which Jeff owns) the Wide Area Repeater network W3WAN, W3SBE in Philadelphia, and many of the local clubs' repeater systems such as Marple-Newtown ARC, several ARES/RACES groups, and others. Some of these systems are a direct result of Jeffs years of contributions in time, money and sweat equity invested for all of us. Jeff is a serious VHF, UHF and microwave experimenter and operator, and is a member of the nationally renowned Mt. Airy VHF Society "Pack Rats" from the greater Philadelphia area.
>
> Jeff has lived on Valley Forge Mountain in Schuylkill Township since 2000. Recently, Jeff's family purchased a 3-acre heavily-wooded lot about 1000 feet away from, and on the same road as his Schuylkill Township residence, but the new lot is in Tredyffrin Township. They are currently in the process of constructing their new dream home on this property. Jeff applied for a building permit for a180-foot self­ supporting antenna structure, but his permit was denied due to the application not complying with a township-wide "35 foot rule" for building heights in residential districts. The proposed height is the minimum necessary to put his antennas over the many tall trees and terrain in the immediate area. Other radio amateurs with antenna towers have lived on the mountain as well, in both Tredyffrin and Schuylkill Townships.
>
> (End Part 3 of 4)