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This is a Grimm Story, But it's not a Fairy Tale Kreines & Kreines, Inc. received a call from a board member of a client city asking us if we remember the Grimm tower. "Who could forget the Grimm tower," we thought. It was a 450-foot tall guyed tower with lots of attachments on it and owned by the Grimm family. The Grimm's are a well-known and respected family in town, so after the Grimm's got a tall structure permit, the city never asked for permits each and every time a new antenna was added to the tower. That process changed when Kreines & Kreines, Inc. prepared a new ordinance for the city. Well, the Grimm tower came down in a windstorm about a month ago. Guyed towers sometimes do that when they are overloaded, but somehow surrounding property owners aren't made aware of this. (Either was the city.) One of the surrounding property owners, a car dealership, parked its new cars next to the Grimm tower. The falling tower totaled 17 new cars. The insurance company for the tower refused to pay the car dealer for the damage, claiming the tower's collapse was an "act of God." At this writing, the various parties to this dispute are fighting it out. Sooner or later someone involved in the dispute may ask if the tower and all of its attachments had permits from the city. That's when it gets interesting. Why a Tower is not a Personal Wireless Service FacilityTurns out that one of the tenants on the Grimm tower was Sprint PCS. No, it wasn't a Sprint tower, it was the Grimm tower; but Sprint antennas were just one of the personal wireless service facilities on the Grimm tower, and they came down when the tower fell. Our client city knew that Sprint PCS equipment was on the tower without either a city zoning permit or building permit. Upon our recommendation, the city had begun a registry of personal wireless service facilities in the city. The city asked Sprint to identify the equipment it had on the tower but Sprint didn't respond. The day after the Grimm tower fell, Sprint called the city and stated that they had to bring in a temporary cell site. The ordinance we prepared for this city contained provisions for temporary cell sites and Sprint was told by the city what they had to do in order to comply with the city's ordinance. The Sprint representative explained that the antennas were up before and that they needed to be up again. The city's answer was simple: the city has no record of Sprint on the Grimm tower. Sprint didn't respond to the city's request that Sprint register with the city. As far as the city's records go, Sprint was never there. C'mon, Let's Be ReasonableThe Grimm family wanted to rebuild the 450-foot tall tower because its falling was "an act of God." The city's attorney stated that allowing the tower was contrary to the ordinance that was passed in 1999. Anytime an existing facility is destroyed, the owner would have to apply under the new ordinance that exists at that time. The ordinance states clearly that the height of any personal wireless service facility was limited to existing structures or new facilities ten feet above treetop height. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. agrees that it was an act of God, but maybe God was trying to tell the tower owner and its tenants to play by the rules. |
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