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rt of AppealsCIRCUIT <■.I.L026Appeal from the United States District Court <br />for the District of <br />Minnesota. <br />:y <br />>er 13, 1993 <br />iry 18, 1993 <br />X, Circuit Judges. <br />a, the City of Mendota Heights, <br />an anateur radio operator, % <br />Lo antenna tover in her yard. <br />that the zoning ordinance was <br />ms Connission ruling knotm as <br />easonably to accosBodate her <br />itrict Court granted suBBsry <br />ials. Because ve conclude that <br />late Pentel when it liaited her <br />fective 56.5-foot antenna, we <br />to Pentel. <br />■SI <br />: t if <br />lii! <br />tli: <br />i. '-. : <br />........ M <br />mm <br />v: <br />■iil <br />h'm' <br />mmH- <br />i. <br />few <br />lir'iw <br />|W' <br />■ ■ <br />Hh :W,-' <br />■ <br />ffea' ■ <br />pa;; <br />fe:-- ■ <br />m. • •■ Ife- <br />Pentel is an anateur radio operator who uses radio communications to serve the public interest. After she was licensed by the FCC in December 1988 to operate an amateur radio and a station from her hone, she installed on her roof a vertical radio antenna that reaches a height from the ground of 56.5 feet. <br />Over the next two years, Pentel was unable to establish reliable <br />radio communications with other amateurs across the United States, <br />and she was able to establish only one international contact. <br />Pentel concluded that her existing antenna thus was not adequate <br />for domestic, much less international, communications. <br />Accordingly, Pentel began preparing to install a more <br />sophisticated antenna. The replacement was to be a retractable <br />steel tower that measured 30 feet when lowered and 68 feet when <br />fully extended. This tower, which Pentel planned to have installed <br />professionally in accordance with its manufacturer's <br />specifications, was to have mounted on its top two directional <br />aluminum antennas.^ <br />Pddtel %ras unaware when she installed her original antenna <br />that she was violating the city's zoning ordinance, which limits <br />all structures, including radio antennas, to a height of twenty- <br />Pentel's proposed antenna would be more effective than her <br />set-up for two reasons. First, Pentel's current vertical <br />antenna dissipates signals in all directions, while her proposed <br />directional antenna would concentrate and collect signals, thus <br />increasing her ability to transmit and receive in a specific <br />direction. Second, an antenna's effectiveness increases with its <br />height. Pentel's existing antenna is blocked by trees. Her taller <br />*^*Pl*®****'t antenna, when extended, would be at or near the tops of <br />nearby trees, thus improving her signal transmission and reception. <br />-2- <br />. . . . ..>• I.-.-. <br />■ ; <br />L^arw..,:,