[South Florida DX Association] Fwd: [nidxa] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the OK signal

[NPAlex at aol.com]

Good story about a successful tower fight
Norm
====================================
Ham radio tower has the OK signal
>Wheaton says it can't deny request
>
>By Bob Goldsborough
>Special to the Tribune
>Published September 23, 2004
>
>Despite opposition from neighbors in [west] Wheaton, a proposed 
>42-foot-high
>ham radio tower can be built in a resident's back yard under federal law 
>without any
>sign-off from local officials.
>
>John Siepmann, given the go-ahead recently by the city attorney, has been
>pitted against dozens of neighbors in the Farnham subdivision, many of whom 
>have "NO RADIO
>TOWER" yard signs.
>
>Opponents believe the tower would be an eyesore, a safety hazard and a
>potential interference to their television and telephone reception.
>
>Siepmann, an amateur ham radio operator, first approached city officials
>requesting a zoning variation to allow him to build a 65-foot-high 
>free-standing tower in
>the back yard of his Browning Court home. An initial look at the zoning 
>code suggested the
>maximum height of such a structure could be 12 feet.
>
>After reviewing Federal Communications Commission requirements, which
>pre-empt municipal regulations and force local communities to be 
>"reasonably accommodating" to
>amateur ham radio operators, city officials concluded they have no choice 
>but to allow a
>tower of up to 42 feet, said city planner Brad Boese.
>
>That height was determined by adding Wheaton's 12-foot height limit for
>antennas that sit atop houses to the 30-foot height limit for single-family 
>houses, Boese said.
>
>"`Reasonable accommodation' isn't really defined anywhere, so what we have
>to go by is what other communities in the area have permitted," he said.
>
>Siepmann has deferred his request for a zoning variation for the 65-foot
>tower, which would require City Council approval, until Oct. 12, and is 
>asking for a
>building permit to allow a 42-foot-high tower. That request, submitted Aug. 
>19, is pending,
>with the Building Department having sent drawings of Siepmann's proposed 
>tower to a local
>structural engineer for evaluation, said Joe Kreidl, director of building 
>and code
>enforcement.
>
>Meanwhile, Siepmann's attorney, James O'Connell, said Wheaton's present
>ordinance doesn't meet federal requirements. He cited other communities 
>that allow ham radio
>tower height limits of 65 feet or more. Unincorporated DuPage County, which 
>is
>immediately to the west of Siepmann's property, has a ham radio tower 
>height limit of 100 feet, O'Connell said.
>
>With a 42-foot limit, Wheaton officials "are wrong under the amateur radio
>law," O'Connell said.
>
>"We may very well petition the City Council to create an ordinance that
>meets federal requirements," he said. "I can't tell you what Mr. Siepmann 
>will eventually
>decide to do. I recommended to him that he take the city up on its offer to 
>issue him a
>42-foot permit on the grounds that something right now is better than doing 
>six months'
>worth of hearings, which can be very expensive. We are prepared to do that 
>if we have
>to."
>
>Ham radio towers need to be tall, O'Connell said, so hobbyists can
>communicate clearly with fellow radio operators around the globe.
>
>"If you want to be able to talk internationally, you need to have your
>antenna above ground and above the surrounding trees," he said. 
>"[Siepmann's neighborhood]
>is a wooded area."
>
>Siepmann's neighbors wish the entire issue would go away. Bill Robertson,
>spokesman for the neighborhood group that opposes the tower, said it could 
>reduce property
>values.
>
>"Anybody living in a nice suburb today would assume that their neighbor
>couldn't put up a 65-foot tower in their back yard, but they'd be wrong," 
>Robertson said. "The
>federal government in its infinite wisdom interceded years ago on behalf of 
>a small
>minority of radio operators when they might have been relevant to some 
>national
>emergency and defense.
>
>"Now they're not, but the government hasn't gotten around to amending the
>law," he said. "We're hoping the city will find a court or a judge who 
>would say that this
>is passe, and that it's no longer reasonable to expect a city to provide 
>this kind of
>accommodation to a hobbyist."

Regards,
Norm W4QN