Here's a response I got from John Hennessee, N1KB, Regulatory
Information Specialist for the ARRL. (He tried to post to towertalk
but it bounced because he's not subscribed).
Kris,
I know that you don't live in Plano, but ARRL HQ hears about these type
tower problems on a daily basis. As ARRL First Vice President Steve
Mendelsohn said in another message, it is important for amateurs to
contact
their ARRL Division Directors for assistance. ARRL Section Managers and
Affiliated Clubs can often assist. Amateurs who aren't yet ARRL members
should seriously consider joining. See the following Web sites:
http://www.arrl.org/divisions/
http://www.arrl.org/field/org/smlist.html
http://www.arrl.org/field/club/
In the Dallas Morning News article, some of what the City Attorney said
is
taken from PRB-1, so the City would appear to understand that local
governments CAN regulate for height, safety and aesthetics, but that
they
must reasonably accommodate amateurs. It's up to local amateurs to
prove
why an ordinance or proposed ordinance is unreasonable in light of
PRB-1,
the partial Federal preemption of local and state zoning ordinances.
For
amateurs faced with these type problems, there's some information on the
ARRL Web page. PRB-1 can be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/local/prb-1.html
Information on the ARRL Volunteer Counsel Program can be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/local/vci.html
and
http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/local/vc.html
Information on the ARRL Volunteer Consulting Engineer Program can be
found
at:
http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/local/vcei.html
and
http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/local/vce.html
One very important reference is the ARRL study titled Antenna Height and
Communications Effectiveness." It shows the effectiveness of antennas
at
different height levels so that amateurs can prove to local zoning
authorities why they need an antenna at a specific height level. This
study
can be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/local/antplnr.pdf
The ARRL PRB-1 Package contains over 200 pages of sample ordinances,
case
law, copies of applicable photocopies of QST as well as other
information
including the information mentioned above that's already available on
the
Web. The cost to help with printing costs is $10 for ARRL members and
$15
for non-members (postage is included).
Thanks for passing the article along to HQ. 73.
John C. Hennessee, N1KB
Regulatory Information Specialist
ARRL HQ * 225 Main St. * Newington, CT 06111
Tel: 860-594-0236 FAX: 860-594-0259 (ATTN: John Hennessee)
Internet: jhennessee@arrl.org
n1kb@arrl.org
--
73
Kris N5KM
mailto:mraz@aud.alcatel.com
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
|