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LINDQUIST & VENNUM 4^00 IDS R 00 SouTx E)GMn^ STRtrr MiS>MEAPOus Minnesota 55402-2205 Tel£Phon £ 612-371-3211 Fax 612 371-3207 NIn D cnvtrUnoQqiST Vennum & CHR*STTS?;fN 600 i7t>< STT^trr Suit ^ 2125 D enver Colorado 80202 5401 TcLEPHONf 303-573-5900 <br />Attorneys At Law <br />ROBERT G. MITCHELL, JR. <br />(612) 371-3262 <br />June 20, 1994 <br />City of Orono R>._0 <br />600 Kelley Boulevard j j ^ 2 2 1994 <br />Long Lake, MN 55356 <br />C\TY CF CFO>:C <br />Re: Application No. 1894/1913 <br />Greg Truchinski <br />1580 Fox Street <br />Radio Tower <br />Ladies and Gentlemen: <br />We represent David MacMillan who lives at 387 Orono Orchard Road Souih. <br />The David MacMillan property is adjacent to the Truchinski property on the north and <br />east and the radio tower in question is in view from the MacMillan land extending above <br />the tree tops as it does. We are told that the radio tower is now 85 feet tall, but that has <br />not been verified. <br />I am familiar with the assertion that the height of an amateur radio tower is <br />exempt from local land use legulation under the theory that the Federal Communications <br />Commission, a federal agency, has preempted local land use control of the height issue. <br />This is not correct. I enclose a chart showing cases decided since the FCC action, <br />generally known as PRB-1 adopted September 16, 1985, and the Pentel vs. MenJota <br />Heights case filed January 18, 1993. TTiose cases show that the courts have adopted a <br />balancing test between the interests of the local community, its residents and the land use <br />regulations designed to protect those interests, the interests of the property owner who <br />wishes to have an amateur radio tower and the interests of the FCC. As you can see <br />from the chart, tower heights in the 65 foot range are the norm. <br />The next level of legal inquiry goes to whether the local community regulates <br />amateur radio tower heights, either generally or specifically. The answer in Orono is that <br />there has always been a general height regulation concerning structures (i.e. 30 feet in <br />Zone R-IA, § 10.20, subdivision 5(A)), which includes radio towers, but in addition, in <br />your ordinance adopted on April 1, 1984, you have a specific provision which appli."s to <br />radio towers like the Greg Truchinski radio tower. Let me explain. <br />4