Village of Kenmore adds $1000 permit fee for amateur radio antennas

Let me see, 65 amateurs times 1000 fee per installation. Nice revenue for Kenmore! I think the FCC along with the ARRL will be keeping the city of kenmore legal staff busy.

 

This should stir the pot , I did not going looking for this but just after reading another post here I was on YouTube where I watch about 99% technical videos .
And this was on the list of suggested viewing , it appears to be a true story ?
It looks like it is the last 13 min. of a movie .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ut6yPrObw

 

Ok guys.... As far as I can tell, the minutes of the Village's Board Meeting where they passed this law are not yet posted. Neither is the wording of the actual law. Interestingly, it's referred to as "Local Law #1, 2013", which shows how busy they are legislating in this village. Incidentally, they update their on-line copy of their village laws only once a year, probably because they're so busy. Or perhaps that's when the kid who does their website comes home on vacation.

Regardless, the ARRL and whomever else have been notified of the issue, and the law seems to be really dead on its face based upon other court decisions, so let's let the lawyers do what they do, and just sit by and take some deep breaths. And the irony is that an ARRL Volunteer Counsel lives in the village........

 

This one will not set any precedents, The info is too available and the village will probably back down before it ever makes it to court. To set a precedent someone needs to have paid the fees and then be denied, then the lawsuits can start. Some one has to have been used or abused by the system. It is like hockey "NO BLOOD NO FOUL."

 

hopefully with the nearly 12k views of this thread a sizable portion of those views resulted in people contacting the email address listed in the lower left hand corner of the homepage http://www.villageofkenmore.org. Otherwise they might not even know about anyone other then myself... Like I said earlier in this thread... don't be rude just seek to educate...

 

These people obviously have their own issues. But they probably have a Village Attorney who should look at and advise them on any legislation before they go ahead an pass it. While NY has not codified PRB-1, there seem to be several cases that he might have caught with a brief review, including Palmer v City of Saratoga Springs, right there in the NDNY and Bodony v Sands Point in the EDNY.

 

The ARRL has Attorneys on call to take care of these bums.

 

I, too, feel sorry for you. Our town has exempted Amateur Radio Operators from permits. In my opinion, this would be one town that would not receive any communication assistance in time of an emergency.

I would take care of my own family by using a dipole and not provide emergency communications for these obvious ridiculous people.

Good luck in your battle or with the decision to move to a sane town.

73
John, W3ML

 

Ham tower

I know two hams that lost for one reason----they listened to their lawyers and rushed to court. Listen to the ARRL then tell your lawyer to do it the ARRL way.

 

Wow,I just read the whole thread and am not surprised at all with the Kenmore 'leaders' and their bogus permit fees for "HAMS". WNY used to be my home.I lived out in the hills between Dansville and Wayland.Good solid folk out that way,and they never bothered me when I put up a tower,and a new barn.But,the taxes and the extremely high electric rates as well as the other taxes forced me to leave my home state going on 14 years ago.The only break I got on my land/school taxes was because of my 100% service connected disability rating,but the other taxes ate me alive.I don't see how on earth they can charge 1k for a damn permit for an antenna/tower.I do hope this works out in your favor as well as the other 65 or so hams in your town.What a shame.

 

The village made a mountain out of a mole hill. Here in Ithaca NY we have regulations for ham towers that are pretty straightforward: 1) height depends on lot size, i.e. should not be so tall as to fall on a neighbor's property, but a neighbor can give you a release; 2) one one permit (about $25) you can do two towers up to 60 ft. tall. 3) Must submit a plot plan to show location(s); 4) must submit the engineering drawings provided by the tower manufacturer. The Tompkins County Amateur Radio Club participated in the process see QST NOV 2008. An important part of doing these regulations was an amicable discussion with the planning and soning board personnel. All bets are off if personalities and egos have been "ticked off." kris km2km

 

Come to Hungary. We call it "Hungarian Roulette". If your antenna is higher than 13 ft you need first an application (fee is appr. 75 $ per ft) and if your application is being accepted the permision itself will be another 100 $ in total. But if your application has been rejected then you don't get back your money. That means if you want to built a 40 ft high tower/mast for your 3 el. yagi you are gambling with 2000$ to get a permision or not.

 

I read: "The law includes a $1,000 application fee for a special-use permit". That tells me that it is $1000.00 to apply for a permit.
Am I correct ? If so, how much is the actual permit ? There seems to be a lot of confusion here. In that case, you would loose your $1000.00 if your permit were turned down. Screwed no mater.
Just curious.

 

thats my understanding as well... I am still waiting for the clerk to send me the law... It had to go to the state for review (I guess all town/city/village laws do)

 

It appears that Kenmore has dug their heels in and is ready for a fight with the passage of local law #2 regarding ham radio. I received law #2 as 4 .jpg's. If someone can post them here for me, please email me.

After a quick review, only 1 antenna may be allowed. It is time to read this again. Either way, they stand on their $1000.00 fee.