Two California Communities Embrace Amateur Radio
The city council of Poway, California, has adopted a new ordinance permitting amateur radio operators to erect towers up to 65 feet tall with only a building permit and a "courtesy notice" to neighbors. According to The ARRL Letter, the League has been working with Poway's amateur community for "a very long time" on this matter. The council originally planned to require a "special minor use permit" for any tower over 35 feet tall, but communications lawyer Felix Tinkov was able to persuade the council that the 65-foot rule best met the FCC's requirement to "reasonably accommodate" amateur radio operation.On a smaller scale, a retirement community in Redlands, California, is actively promoting amateur radio among its residents, with Newsline reporting that more than a dozen of them have recently earned their ham licenses. It doesn't hurt that Plymouth Village's executive director, Keith Kasin, is AI6BX. He is promoting amateur radio as part of the community's emergency response plan and hopes to eventually get at least 30 of the village's 300 residents licensed.
