San Diego Ham Antenna Ordinance

 We're back for the moment in the world of Amateur radio.  And we are located in the City of San Diego, California, which is home to about 3,700 ARS licensees.  Its enlightened city government has, essentially on its own initiative, written a draft zoning ordinance that would forbid the construction of all new ARS (only) antennas taller than a height of 30 feet AGL.  Well, almost.  An enterprising ham would still have the right to file an application for a property development permit for a proposed new, 30 foot, non-conforming antenna structure; it's the same permit issued for construction of shopping malls and golf courses.  And it requires an $8,000 application fee.

Hams, of course, are the traditional telecommunications "first responders," on the air with ad-hoc equipment lash-ups and with both prior-established and spontaneous nets operating during and after natural or man-made disasters.  This is just when everyone else is trying to assess the damage to communications systems, to make repairs, and to re-start service.  The hams were there after Katrina, and they are on duty today after the Haitian earthquake.  No one doubts their sincerity or their usefulness.  Local governments in the San Diego area have even included established Amateur communications systems into their disaster planning.  And well they should: the region lies in an earthquake zone, is prone to spectacular back country brush fires, and is even open to large storms and the subsequent flooding and mudslides during recurrent El Nino weather events.

Note also that this proposed ordinance applies specifically and solely to ARS licensees.  It does not mention commercial two-way radio, cellular base stations, broadcasters, short-wave radio listeners, over-the-air TV viewers, CBers, or even owners of home weather stations.  These other folks can build as tall as they want, contingent only on filing for and receiving structural building permits.

So what has caused San Diego city cubical quad antenna to go after ham operators?  A local ham, fueled with far more money and ambition than common sense, proposed, somehow was issued building permits for, and built a huge antenna installation at his home.  Unfortunately, that home is located in about the most "exclusive" (read: expensive) neighborhood in the city, and the installation is grossly oversized for the lot on which it resides and for the neighborhood in which it is located.  It does damage to the aesthetics of the neighborhood.  A structure that size should generally be built in a rural area, not in the city.

While hams do need tall antenna structures, prudence and common sense would dictate some voluntary limits as to sizes and heights for those in primarily residential areas.  (For non-ham readers, the taller the tower is, the more radiation-efficient are high-frequency ["short wave"] antennas mounted atop it, and also the greater the line-of-sight to the horizon for VHF/UHF antennas.)  Very tall towers do not belong in city residential neighborhoods.  But ARS towers of lesser height, properly constructed, do.  And so also says the FCC, both houses of the U.S. Congress, and the State of California.  The city of San Diego seems to disagree with these authorities.

Meanwhile, "back in the hood" the local ham steadfastly refused to admit that he had created a problem, and his neighbors launched into orbit when "the monster" began climbing toward the stars.  Unfortunately the neighbors, being members of the higher economic classes, had little difficulty gaining the ears of city governmental officials or of obtaining skilled legal counsel to press their points.  And city government responded to their outcry by drafting the proposed ordinance.