Gerry,
I will pass along my story. I moved into an exclusive sub in a small
rural area outside of Detroit. I moved here because the lots were all
3 acres AND there was no mandatory homeowners association and no
restrictive covenants in the deed. I did my homework on those
issues. Also, the property that I was interested in had woods in the
rear half (which is where I planned to put my tower). I mulled over
what to do as you are doing now. I decided to do the "right" thing.
I went to ALL of my immediate neighbors (adjacent and ones that could
see the tower) and told them what I was going to do and asked if they
had any objections. None of them did. It was when I talked to the
Prez of the voluntary homeowner's assn that the trouble started. She
was 1/2 mile away and on the other side of a hill. If I put a 200'
tower up, she couldn't have seen it! Obviously, RFI was not a problem
with her either. The reason that she opposed me were purely
politicaI. She felt that ANY variance was a dangerous precedent. I
found out later that there was an old battle going on in the sub about
garages and out buildings that had nothing to do with my tower.
Anyway, I applied to the township for a variance to go to 65'
(anything taller than 35' required it). The Prez called all her
friends in the tea club (I mean HO Assn) and they showed up at the
Zoning Board meeting. Even though they are a voluntary org, they made
enough noise that I was denied the variance. What infuriated me was
that after going thru the trouble of drawing up a site plan with all
the details of how the tower was going to be surrounded by trees, and
that the only thing that was going to be visible was the top 20' or
so, how the tower was going to be set back 400' from the road, fall
safe area, etc; NOBODY looked at the plans or came out to inspect the
site! Even the Zoning Board members that were supposed to have done
that, never took the time to!
The Bldg Dept was actually sympathetic to my cause. They knew that
another ham that lived a few miles away had a variance for his PAIR of
130' Rohn 45Gs! They were blown away by the fact that I was denied,
and knew it was a political decision, not a practical one. The only
thing I did at that point was make sure that the township attorney and
the Prez of the HO Assn had a copy of PRB-1 and I told them they
better be familiar with it!
I was really pissed now and wanted to sue everybody! My attorney, who
is a close personal friend asked me a few questions at this point. He
is not a ham, but does have great insight! He asked me what happens
when he starts his car. I answered him with a puzzeled look. He
replied, "the antenna goes up and down..." I agreed. He asked me why
I couldn't do the same. I told him that I already had a tower. He
asked why I couldn't put that up first, then, if I didn't like what I
had and wanted to go higher, to go with a crank up. He continued
asking me questions about options that I should have known myself!
But I was so caught up with the fight that I couldn't see straight.
The biggie was if I was prerared to spend $25K and several years in
court to prove that I was right, with the possibility that I could
still lose! He did also mentioned to me that this still a hobby,
after all. Upon thinking that over, I followed his advice, and took
the path of least resistance!
I got my permit to go 35'. I DID pour enough concrete to support a
85' freestanding crankup, and the inspector even commented on my
"overkill" for a 35' tower! In so many words, he told me that as long
as I did things that were "reasonable", and no one complained, that
there was no reason for him ever visiting me again!!! I am not sure
if he was totally out of my driveway when I put 2 more tower sections
up and had the top of the tower at 48'! (HI!) At this point, you
could just see the top of the tower above the tree tops, if you knew
where to look. With 10' of mast sticking up, I had a TA-33 at 50' and
a VHF/UHF yagi at 57'.
NOBODY ever complained about that setup. Some of my neighbors didn't
even know the tower was there even after years! After I heard that, I
put one more tower section up, so the top of the tower is now 56',
with the TA-33 at 60' and the VHF/UHF yagi now at 70'!
Here's the icing on the cake. After I got my 48' of tower up with the
antennas atop, the Prez and her husband apoligized to me in public,
before everyone at the annual HO Assn meeting! They apologized for
opposing what I proposed "from ignorance", and that I was right, the
tower was not an eyesore, or a hazard, etc, etc! He also knew from
reading PRB-1 that I didn't need their OK, that I was doing it this
way to be a good neighbor. He and I have since become co-chm of the
neighborhood watch commitee! We have also seen the property values in
our sub continue to climb; to the point that their house is worth
quite a bit more now than before I came along! To me, this is
absolute proof that my tower in no way decreased property value or
salability (sp?) of any of the homes in our sub. Some of the homes
are worth $700K and still climbing. I did make some compromises and
it took a little longer than I originally planned. However, it turned
out better than I ever expected! Granted, this is not a 100' tower in
the middle of town, but there may be some similarities in our
circunstances.
Things I learned in MY particular situation:
It is easier to beg for forgivness than ask for permission.
Have patience to get to where you want to go.
There are always other options to get what you want.
The usual disclaimers apply, your mileage may vary, etc...
--
73,
Floyd Soo, W8RO
President, HI-RES Communications, Inc.
Board Member, Collins Collectors Assn. (#002)
QRP-L (#392)
hires@rust.net
http://www.rust.net/~hires
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