Why Is The City Of Palmdale's Draft Zoning Ordinance 95.03 A Big Deal?

From the City of Palmdale's Draft Zoning Ordinance 95.03--

C. Regulations Generally (p 3).

• "No residential television and amateur radio Antenna or support thereof shall be erected, installed, placed or maintained upon any lot or upon any building or structure except in compliance with this chapter."
• "Amateur radio antennas shall not be operated in a manner which causes unreasonable interference with electrical equipment in the surrounding area, as more particularly described in Federal regulations."
• "No more than one antenna structure and one whip antenna shall be permitted on each site."

E. The following antennas may be installed without prior approval of the Planning Department of the City of Palmdale. However, they may still be required to obtain a building permit from the Building and Safety Department. (p 4)

• "Antenna that are installed, placed or maintained and used under the roof, or extend no more than one inch above the roof...."
• "Antenna installations intended for use by the City of Palmdale or another governmental agency."

F. Process-Minor Modification or Conditional Use Permit Required. (p 4)

• 1(c) "Such an antenna is colored to minimize its reflectivity and blend with its surroundings as much as possible; and..."
• 1(d) "Such an antenna is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood in that it does not cause adverse visual, health, safety, or other adverse impacts on the surrounding properties."
• 4(l) "A representative list of electronic devices which could receive interference from ham radio operation; e.g. home radio, stereo, televisions, heart pacemakers, infant alarm systems, cordless phones..."

The City of Palmdale's Draft Zoning Ordinance 95.03 is a big deal (link).

73 from the shackadelic.

The Future of Ham Radio | Paying Attention To Palmdale Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03

I'm paying attention and Palmdale Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03 is duly noted. The question I'm asking is, "What happened to ham radio and our neighborhood relationship?"

My posting is a biased observation of current trends with future implications. I am a ham radio operator writing from his heart. Writing without emotion, feeling, and passion on this particular topic is empty writing. One may note a mix of objectivity, low factual content, and emotional subjectivity.

I am penning a passionate plea. Palmdale Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03 is a crux moment in our history. One worth paying attention because it is simply wrong. And if we do not rally in support of one of our operators? We may not have a viable future that is one worth its expensive weight in spectrum.

What Happened?
One might perceive Palmdale Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03 as a cultural manifestation of visual value, real estate special interest, and home ownership as a cash cow. Each intertwined with the other. The variables are inextricable.

Additionally, we might consider suburban population pressures acting upon today's ham radio operator. That is, we are living one atop another in densely packed neighborhoods thus concentrating the number of supposed FCC compliant devices inside our homes. Furthermore, the understanding of ham radio in relationship to the general population has diminished as new technologies supplant our wireless communication activities.

Think scale. Our scale is diminishing in relationship to the general population. And scale equals influence.

Neighborhood Relationships?
Perhaps our relationship with our neighborhood is broken? But, that might be a cultural phenomena as well consequently ham radio is taking a blow because of cultural misdirection. That is, there maybe greater misunderstanding as to "what ham radio is" rather than "what ham radio is not."

Are we only communicating with our neighbors in times of supposed radio interference? What level of interaction are we achieving at the level of neighborhood? I'm fortunate because my neighbors support ham radio. They are interested in knowing about the furthest station contacted or I said just this evening, "Let's see what the fishing pole can catch this weekend."

I'm referring to my wire antenna and everyone gets the idea. They are my best defenders when the home owner's association took note of my wire. I do believe, if ham radio is to survive with our valuable spectrum in hand, drilling to the neighborhood level is one course of action.

Everything in ham radio starts with our next door neighbor.

The Restrictive Nature of Palmdale Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03.
Palmdale Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03 stated, "The City of Palmdale is an attractive planned community with a history of high quality design, open vistas and underground utilities in residential areas."

Furthermore Zoning Ordinance Section 95.03 stated, "A basic community objective, as contained in the City's General Plan Land Use and Circulation elements, is to encourage desirable urban character and appearance. The City finds that regulation of the size, location, height and screening of antennas is necessary to accomplish this objective."

Lastly the City of Palmdale continued, "An amateur radio antenna, the operation of which causes unreasonable interference with electrical equipment in the surrounding neighborhood, is not compatible with the neighborhood."

I take note, "[T]he operation of which causes unreasonable interference with electrical equipment in the surrounding neighborhood." However the ordinance does not cite any studies that substantiate this claim and the City of Palmdale is cooping the powers of the Federal Communication Commission to establish such claims.

ARRL News: Restrictive Local Zoning Ordinance Proposed As Court Date In California Antenna Case Draws Near.
Alec Zubarau, WB6X is taking on the City of Palmdale (link). He is on the tip of the wave. Let's get behind Alec and support his efforts.

If this tower comes down then towers in other municipalities across our nation can follow as well.

73 from the shackadelic.

Star Trek 05.08.09

Why settle for impulse power when you've got warp drive? My imagination flourished on episodes of Star Trek and now a new generation, a new look, and a new message. I hear our elder Leonard Nimoy on trailer one, "Space the final frontier."

If timing is everything in history then Star Trek is perfectly timed.

Engage imagination.

On 1-inch Antenna | David replied, "In the interest of fairness, saying that..."

Read comment (link).

We have an ordinance problem. The depth and scope does not bode well for ham radio's future. They are, in effect, cutting us off at the knees.

I do believe, that our awareness level as a community, requires a few more antennas transmitting this information through the Internet. I'm grateful Dan, KB6NU ran his recent posting because I was not aware of impending ordinances with significant reach. Ham radio must win for the future of our hobby.

Tango uniform David.

73 from the shackadelic.

On Antenna Restrictions | ARRL Antenna Defense Fund Contributes $5,000 toward WB6X Lawsuit

Somewhere the line must be drawn and continued ordinances like the one initiated in Palmdale is an affront to ham radio. We have and will continue serving our nation with pride and humility. Let us not forget our long standing tradition of public service.

Palmdale antenna ordinance activity according to ARRL Southwestern Division e-communicator.

• "Shortly after issuing the WB6X permit revocation order, the City of Palmdale began drafting an amended antenna ordinance that places severe restrictions on all Amateur Radio antennas."
• "At the request of Vice-Director Marty Woll, N6VI, who attended the Palmdale Planning Commission meeting along with about a dozen local hams and supporters, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, wrote a lengthy letter to the City Attorney pointing out numerous flaws in the proposed ordinance and explaining why many of its provisions are
  unenforceable due to federal and state preemption."
• "He [Marty Woll, N6VI] and Keith Hoyt are also scheduled to meet with the Planning Department and Assistant City Attorney in early January."

San Diego antenna ordinance activity according to ARRL Southwestern Division e-communicator.

• "[T]he City of San Diego has also proposed a modification of its antenna zoning rules."
• "[H]am antennas have not been subject to the height restrictions applicable to buildings and other structures."
• "Under the modification, however, those restrictions will apply unless the amateur obtains a time-consuming and cost-prohibitive Process Three Site Development Permit-- the City's most onerous procedure, which requires site plans, engineering studies, public hearings, and perhaps hiring a land use attorney, even after which he or she may be denied the request for a height increase."

I ask, if you are reading my blog entry, to walk a mile with WB6X and all the ham radio operators in San Diego. One ordinance later and we must tell freshly minted operators, "Welcome aboard but your local city council decided that a high frequency (HF) antenna or any other type of antenna is not in your best interest."

The dollars to entry in ham radio given what is going on, well, I would think about another hobby. Why the hassle? What happens in California trends across the nation. We have an ordinance problem.

How to win? Lawsuits are not cheap. And numbers count as well. If you are interested in making a small monetary donation to the WB6X Defense Fund please contact me for further donation information.

73 from the shackadelic.

The Height Of Dumbing Down Is One Inch?

This one takes the cake, the pie, and Twinkies. The City of Palmdale, California wants to slap a height restriction of 1-inch on ham radio antennas. Serious.

And many thanks to Dan, KB6NU for getting this ball rolling while David, N9FAA (link) spearheads ham radios grass rooted effort to smarten up Palmdale's City Council. One does not need to deduce any further what can happen if this ordinance is passed.

Links of Interest.

• KB6NU's Palmdale, CA Wants to Effectively Ban Ham Radio (link).
• N9FAA's YouTube Channel including videos of his grass rooted efforts (link).

Perhaps this is the time to read Dale N. Hatfield (W0IFO) Chief, Office on Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), "The Role of Amateur Radio in the New Century."

73 from the shackadelic.

KB6NF Confirmed USPS

I really dig the Koa Contest Club motto, "CW with afterburner." That rocks in my logbook and KB6NF is now on the shackadelic wall.

All I can say is, "Off we go into the wild blue wonder, into the sky we fly..."

Tango uniform KB6NF.

73 from the shackadelic.

Open Education | Sharpen Your Skills | Expand Your Knowledge

MITOPENCOURSEWARE | MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (link).

OPEN LEARNING INITIATIVE | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY (link).

WEBCASTS | PODCASTS | PROMINENT SPEAKERS | UC BERKELEY (link).

My answer to "dumbing down"? Smarten up.

Education is fun, on-going, and a life time pursuit. One can never learn enough. I'm embarking on a task to sharpen my skills while expanding my knowledge base given the present economic climate. The difference between winning and losing in a job interview just might be that extra piece of critical information. Smarten up is better than dumbing down.

Common Open Learning Attributes.

• Each course, webcast, or podcast is free.
  
• Any coursework does not count as credit.
• The process is easy to navigate.

I'm a graduate of Capella University (link) and distant learning is schedule friendly, learner driven, and demanding. I enjoyed a great deal of independence as an adult learner while attending Capella. Additionally, unlike a brick and mortar institution, distant learning afforded me the opportunity to gain practical real-world experience, co-mingle with other focused adult learners, and apply my academic experience in real time.

Smarten up not dumb down.