[TWIAR] Height of radio towers an issue in Cedar Hills (Utah)

[Greg Williams]

http://www.harktheherald.com/article.php?sid=93123&mode=thread&order=0

      Height of radio towers an issue in Cedar Hills

      THE DAILY HERALD on Monday, August 25

            Tammy McPherson

            To amateur radio operators, a tall tower is a beautiful thing.

            And while many cities currently limit that love of elevated
towers with height restrictions, things may soon change for the amateur
radio operators, or as they call themselves, "hams," in Utah County.

            Phil Thunborg, a licensed amateur radio operator from Cedar
Hills, is asking the city to change its zoning ordinance so he can put up a
higher tower than is currently allowed. Backing him up is the past president
of the Utah Amateur Radio Club, Mark Richardson, and John Hanson, one of the
initiators of House Bill 79, a bill the legislature passed in its last
session that states cities can't place unreasonable restrictions on radio
tower heights.

            "They need to change the ordinance because it isn't legal as it
stands," said Thunborg, call sign N7INU. "I'm not trying to make any
enemies, but it certainly is an arbitrary height limit."

            And some Cedar Hills officials seem to agree.

            The Cedar Hills Planning Commission has asked staff to form a
committee to modify the zoning ordinance in relation to towers and "other
things that stick in the air," including cell phone towers and steeples.

            While Cedar Hills may be the first city in the county to address
the issue, most of the cities statewide are going to have to revisit their
ordinances to comply with H.B. 79, said Megan Ryan, Utah League for Cities
and Towns planner. The league assists 236 cities and towns throughout Utah
with legislative and technical assistance, including land-use issues.

            H.B. 79 is modeled after a document the Federal Communications
Commission released in 1985 called PRB-1, Hanson said.

            The courts have not defined "reasonable," either federally or
locally, Ryan said. The FCC is leaving the limit up to the municipalities
because urban areas would need different restrictions than rural areas. Some
communities have already set a range between 60 and 80 feet high, Ryan said.

            "Reasonable does leave one with broad parameters," she said.

            But many of the cities in Utah County have restrictions set
below the 60- to 80-foot range. Cedar Hills' current ordinance states that
the maximum height for a chimney, flag pole, television antenna and other
similar structures -- including amateur radio towers -- is 45 feet. In
Pleasant Grove, the maximum height for a tower mounted on a roof is 15 feet
above the roofline, or 50-feet high. The ordinance doesn't specify towers
that are on the ground, but Ray Limb of the Planning Department said the
maximum height would probably be the same. Residents in the county are also
held to a 40-foot limit.

            The hams argue that the towers' effectiveness is directly
related to how high the tower can be. A tower used for international
communications would need to be taller than one used only to contact other
area amateur operators, Hanson said.

            Hanson, KI7AR, and Richardson, W7HPW, can attest to the
effectiveness of higher towers in a personal manner.

            Both used to live in American Fork with towers restricted to 40
feet.

            In the six years Richardson lived in American Fork, he contacted
amateur radio operators in 50 different countries. Within the past year of
living in the county outside of Payson, with his now 72-foot tower, he
boasts contact with more than 200 countries.

            Richardson and Hanson can prove contact with operators in other
countries with QSL cards-- ham lingo for confirmation of contact. As part of
the hobby, operators send cards to each other because they can win awards
for every 100 countries contacted.

            Fostering international relationships is one of the three-fold
reasons the FCC licenses amateur radio operators, Richardson said, noting
his friend in Germany who he talks to on a regular basis through the radio.

            The other two reasons are to have a number of self-trained radio
operators and to provide emergency communications backup, he said.



            ? Tammy McPherson can be reached at tmcpherson@heraldextra.com.

            This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.



Greg Williams
k4hsm@lock-net.com

Tis often better to be silent and thought a fool rather than to speak and
remove all doubt.
No trees were destroyed in the sending of this contaminant-free message
We do concede, a significant number of electrons may have been
inconvenienced.