Tower of obstruction

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Sounding more than a little exasperated, Judge Brooke Jackson sent the Lookout Mountain television tower case back to the Jefferson County commissioners - for the third time - and told them it was their responsibility to decide.

Soon.

The Lake Cedar Group is a consortium of stations that wants to replace existing towers on Lookout Mountain with a single new tower that would be configured to switch from analog to digital broadcasts by February 2009, as a federal mandate requires. We've argued for several years that they should be allowed to do so.

But that requires the county commission to rezone the tower area. It has done so twice, in August 2003 and August 2004, but its most recent vote, in September 2005, was to reject a motion to reaffirm the rezoning, over concerns that if the tower were to collapse, it could potentially injure people who live in the surrounding area.

Jackson categorically rejected that argument, saying it was supported by no competent evidence in the record.

The judge noted that the commission membership has changed since the original votes, but that makes no difference: "The three gentlemen who occupy those seats today are charged with the authority and responsibility to make the decision," he said, adding that the court "will affirm whatever decision is made, so long as it can be shown that there is competent evidence in the record that supports the decision."

We'd like to see the end of this, but realize that however the commissioners decide, the issue is not going to go away any time soon. Both sides are determined to prevail. If the tower opponents win the next board vote, and the judge issues a permanent injunction against the tower construction, the Lake Cedar Group can reapply later. If the opponents lose, there's no doubt they'll appeal.

The Lake Cedar Group has made a reasonable commercial decision that Lookout Mountain is the best place to operate their towers, and over the years has made a number of changes to meet objections from residents.

Nothing they've done has placated the opponents, and nothing ever will. The commissioners should accept their responsibility and approve the rezoning.