February 4, 2003. Jefferson County Board of Commissioners in a 2 to 1
vote approved a rezoning application submitted by Bear Creek Development
Corporation (BCDC) and Public Interest Communications (PIC) to build a
multi-use telecommunications site on Mount Morrison.
Jefferson County Press Release
PTI Tower Proposal for
Eldorado Mountain Denied
Golden, April 9, 2002. The Jefferson County Commissioners voted
unanimously to deny a proposal by Pinnacle Towers Inc. (PTI) of
Sarasota Florida for a 421 foot tower on Eldorado Mountain.
The main reasons for denial include, failure to prove legal access to the
property,
and the visual impact on scenic lands. Commissioners
also expressed concerns that the Department of Commerce Laboratories in
Boulder would not be adequately protected from electromagnetic
interference, and that the proposal would not reduce the number of
towers in the County.
The Commissioners will sign on the written resolution April 30th.
A spokesman for PTI said they will evaluate their options after seeing
the official resolution. These could include giving up, submission
of a new substantially revised proposal, increasing the size of the
current tower under a special use permit, filing a lawsuit, or seeking
Federal preemption of the Jefferson County zoning decision.
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Denver Tower Sites (click for larger view) |
One other tower proposal for the Denver metro area is currently under
consideration.
A
proposal by the
Lake Cedar Group would replace four
existing towers on Lookout Mountain with a single new tower that would
provide antenna space for a number of analog and digital stations.
Squaw Mountain continues to be a viable candidate broadcast location
that is actively soliciting analog and digital broadcasters to locate
there.
Links
Jefferson County Press Release
(17k)
Eldorado
tower denied, Boulder Daily Camera, April 10, 2002
Jeffco nixes taller tower on mountain, Denver Post, April 10, 2002
Eldorado tower rejected, Rocky Mountain News, April 10, 2002
February 13, 2002. The Jefferson County Planning Commission voted
unanimously to recommend denial of the Pinnacle Towers revised proposal
for rezoning Eldorado Mountain for digital TV towers. The reasons
for their recommendation were unresolved access, unresolved fire protection
and unresolved equipment issues, and incompatibility with surrounding land
uses based on the visual impact the towers would have on the open
space and parks.
The case will next be heard by the Jefferson County Commissioners,
April 9th, 2002, at 9 a.m.
Jefferson County Press Release
(21k)
Planning Commission Resolution
(169k)
New Pinnacle Plan First Step Toward Buildout
Updated, February 14th, 2002.
Pinnacle
Towers presented their revised plan for digital TV
tower facilities on Eldorado Mountain to the Jefferson County
Planning Commission on February 6th. Hearings were continued
to February 13th and concluded with the Planning Commission
recommending denial. The proposal will next be heard by the
Jefferson County Commissioners, April 9th at 9 a.m.
Scaling back their original proposal to make Eldorado Mountain a major
tower consolidation site for the Denver metro area, Pinnacle proposed
only a single new tower at their December 10th hearing before the
Jefferson County Commissioners, but commented that they would apply
for additional towers later.
The revised plan as subsequently
reviewed by the Planning Commission also included increasing
the height of the existing tower on Eldorado Mountain to 180 feet
rather than removing it as originally planned.
People need to be aware that any proposal to start DTV broadcasting
from Eldorado Mountain, however modest it may seem at the beginning, will
almost certainly lead to future requests for a full buildout with
multiple tall towers using the maximum possible height and power
similar to the original Pinnacle proposal.
This result is assured by the conflicting goals
of maximizing coverage while avoiding interference with the National
Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ). Tall towers are needed to maximize coverage
over obstructing topography; the highest allowable power is needed to
maximize the coverage area; and multiple towers are needed to shape
the coverage pattern to avoid interference with the NRQZ.
Pinnacle's earlier proposals are an accurate testimonial to the
engineering realities of the kind of system needed to provide
adequate digital TV coverage of the Denver metro area from Eldorado
Mountain.
The tactic of proposing a scaled-down system is simply a way for
Pinnacle to get the nose of the camel under the tent. It seeks to
minimize the immediate environmental and visual impacts that many
citizens find so onerous in order to gain initial approval. Its
purpose can only be to serve as a wedge to drive future expansion
that will be difficult to stop and that will incrementally errode
the beauty of Eldorado Mountain and the Front Range mountain backdrop.
We urge Jefferson County to have the vision and foresight to
recognize that all proposals for digital television service broadcast
from Eldorado Mountain are incompatible and will sooner or later
end up being in gross conflict with the
purposes of the Eldorado Mountain State Park and the visual resource
policies of the
North
Mountain Community Plan (NMCP), and
Jeffco Telecommunications
Land Use Plan (TLUP).
Counties want help saving vista - Boulder Daily Camera, Dec 27, 2001
Preserving vista needs private funds - Rocky Mountain News,
Dec 26, 2001
No peak
experience - Boulder Daily Camera, Feb 11, 2002
Pinnacle case returned to Planning Commission;
hearing set for February 13th.
December 10th, 2001.
At
a hearing that lasted only minutes, PTI submitted an amended
Official Development Plan of reduced scope
for their
application for rezoning Eldorado Mountain.
PTI asked the Jefferson County
Commissioners to grant a continuance
and requested that they
be allowed to bypass the Planning Commission.
The Jefferson County Commissioners
granted their request for a continuance, however their
request to bypass the Planning Commission was denied.
Upon the completion of two hearings before the Planning
Commission on February 6th and February 13th, the
Commission again recommended denial of the PTI rezoning request.
Plans
for Eldorado towers pared down - Boulder Daily Camera, Dec 11, 2001
Illegal Tower on Eldorado Mountain
Oct 29, 2001.
The Jefferson County Zoning
Administrator has been informed by PTI
that an unauthorized tower was built on their property
on Eldorado Mountain by one of their tenants over the previous weekend.
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| Visible from Hy 93 and from Shanahan Ridge, the
unauthorized 40 foot antenna stands to the right of the main
antenna in this picture. The tower generated citizen complaints
and was finally removed in January following Jefferson County
Zoning Enforcement. (click image for larger view) |
Links
Unauthorized
tower is built on top of Eldorado Mountain, Nov 16, 2001, Boulder Daily
Camera
DTV Transmissions from Eldorado Mtn
Likely to Exceed FCC Limits at National
Radio Quiet Zone, Report Says
Digital
Television Transmissions from the proposed Eldorado Mtn Tower
site could interfere with research at the DOC Laboratories in Boulder
and may exceed the FCC's regulatory limit or adversely impact research
at the Table Mountain National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), according to a new
report issued by NIST and ITS of the Department of Commerce.
A study was performed to determine the increase in ambient electromagnetic
field strengths that would result from a proposal to locate a cluster of
terrestrial digital television (DTV) transmission towers in proximity to
the Department of Commerce (DOC) Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado.
Measurements were taken using both Eldorado Mountain
and Squaw Mountain to determine the expected increase in ambient
electromagnetic field strengths that would result at the DOC
Boulder Laboratories and at the Table Mountain NRQZ.
For a typical 1 MW-EIRP DTV transmitter with omnidirectional antenna,
the increase from transmissions on Eldorado Mountain were shown to exceed
the FCC regulatory limit at the NRQZ by a factor of ten. The transmissions
could also seriously affect research at the DOC Laboratories in Boulder.
The study states that the two proposed transmitter locations (Eldorado Mtn
and Squaw Mtn) have basically the same DTV coverage areas, but that
a transmitter on Squaw Mountain will not violate the FCC regulatory limits
protecting the Table Mountain NRQZ and would not adversely impact research
that is conducted at the NRQZ.
The report calls attention to the need to overcome the problems of
multipath and poor reception from the use of indoor antennas and discusses
possible alternatives including improved receiver technology or increases
in transmitted power. The latter would further exacerbate potential
interference problems.
Udall Urges Jeffco
to Consider Boulder County Concerns in
Tower Site Decision
Congressman Mark Udall has urged the
Jefferson County Commissioners to seriously take into consideration the
concerns of near by Boulder County communities when considering the
petition by Pinnacle Towers, Inc. to develop a
regional telecommunication tower and antenna consolidation site on
Eldorado Mountain. The property is immediately adjacent to Boulder County
and the Eldorado State Park.
Udall offered his comments in a letter to the Jefferson County
Commissioners on December 5, 2000.
Links
Proposed Antenna Farm Next to State Park
Raises Concerns
A
proposal by Pinnacle Towers of Sarasota Florida to build an
antenna farm adjacent
to the Eldorado State Park on Eldorado Mountain has raised concerns about its
compatibility with the Park. In a letter addressed to the State Parks
Board, the People for Eldorado Mountain and Citizens for Eldorado Canyon
have expressed concern that the antenna farm would interfere with the
recreational purposes of the park, injure birds and wildlife, and
seriously degrade the significant scenic assets of the area. The groups
specifically asked for help from the Parks Board in protecting the Park
assets.
Links
