ZUBARAU v. CITY OF PALMDALE (California Court of Appeal, January 27, 2011).
Plaintiff, an amateur or "ham" radio operator, brought an action against the City of Palmdale, California challenging the City's order to have him remove a tower antenna from his residential backyard and a roof-mounted antenna from his residential roof. He contended that the City's ordinance regulating the height of antennas in a residential area was preempted by state and federal law and that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague. The Court held that the City's order to remove the tower antenna was supported by substantial evidence and was in compliance with state and federal laws in that it did not constitute an undue interference with amateur radio communications permitted by state and federal law.
But to the extent the ordinance purported to regulate radio frequency interference, such City's ordinance was preempted by federal law. In addition, the challenged ordinance was unenforceable in part because of apparent inconsistent height limitations in the ordinance that rendered it unconstitutionally vague.
Other cases have held that that local zoning regulations pertaining to RF interference are preempted by federal law. See, e.g., Southwestern Bell Wireless Inc. v. Johnson, 199 F.3d 1185, 1193 (10th Cir. 1999) (finding that Congress intended federal regulation of RF interference to be so pervasive as to occupy the field).
For a copy of any of the decisions described herein, contact Anthony Dorland at dorlanda@moss-barnett.com.