Jeffco rejects 'final offer' on digital tower

Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

GOLDEN - The Jefferson County commissioners Monday unanimously rejected a settlement agreement from a broadcasters' group planning to build a digital transmission tower atop Lookout Mountain.

"Not only no, but fill in the blank, no," said Commissioner Jim Congrove after listening to two hours of public comment opposing the agreement, which would nearly eliminate county jurisdiction over the tower and the future addition of more towers.

The Lake Cedar Group, a consortium of Denver broadcasters, including CBS 4, Denver's 7, 9News and Channel 20, is building the 730-foot tower to offer high-definition broadcasts by 2009.

"We are disappointed that the county didn't accept the settlement, but we are proceeding with building, full speed away," Marv Rockford, spokesman for the Lake Cedar Group, said after the hearing.

The county received the settlement offer on Sunday, but more than 80 people appeared for the last-minute public hearing over the decade-old issue, which includes rezoning approvals by previous county commissioners in 2003 and 2004 and lawsuits by -homeowners.

"This is not an agreement. This is an article of surrender," said Alfred Hislop, who lives on Lookout Mountain.

He said the county would make seven major concessions, including waiving permitting requirements and allowing future construction of more towers.

The only concession by Lake Cedar would be to take down four towers after lawsuits and other challenges are settled, which could take years, Hislop said.

"This is contract zoning, which is illegal in Colorado," said Charles Baroch, of Golden, referring to a law that bars property owners and governments from signing written agreements to rezone land and limiting the restrictions officials can impose.

"We will challenge that," he said.

Preliminary site work on Lookout Mountain began after Congress approved legislation granting federal licensees the right to build HDTV towers and facilities without local approval.

Now the broadcasters are moving ahead and seeking dismissal of the remaining legal obstacles, Rockford said.

Lee Todd, of Lookout Mountain, accused the county of "rolling over and playing dead" during the negotiations and said the county attorney's office was brainwashed by Lake Cedar.

Congrove said he received the proposal 12 hours before the meeting, adding the settlement was Lake Cedar's final offer before a suit against the broadcasters' group went before a judge.

The case, a motion by Lake Cedar to dismiss a suit filed by the city of Golden and other tower opponents, has been moved to Monday. The hearing was originally scheduled for this week.

Other speakers said construction of the larger tower has resulted in home buyers shunning the area, lowered property values and taxes to fund schools and posed unknown risks of radiation. Rockford said radio waves don't produce radiation.

Baroch told the commissioners that the risks of radiation have been underestimated.

"If we get more and more towers, there will be more radiation and you will be responsible for the damages," he said.

frazierd@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5308