Good Afternoon All: Several on this list have inquired recently about the infamous DePolo antenna case which resulted in an unfavorable opinion by the 3rd circuit court of Appeals earlier this year. It was reported on this reflector. If you have no interest in the DePolo antenna case outcome so far, you need not read further. For those of you who asked, I summarize the status below. The DePolo federal appeals court created new rules requiring hams to file additional appeals from a zoning appeals board hearing, to further contest a result, in both a state court and a federal court (or just the state court). Federal court filing alone will not work now, at least in the third circuit states. For lots of reasons, the rule will never allow a ham to actually get heard in federal court. Having filed dual cases in three other matter involving mixed federal and state questions, I can attest to that. Regardless, DePolo transferred his case from federal court to state court in November under a special PA state court statute allowing transfer. We believe the federal Appeals court was not mindful of that little known state law when they invented a way to sidestep deciding PRB-1. As expected, the numerous opponents including two separate townships filed massive objections on both procedural grounds and substantive grounds. The PA state court just dismissed DePolo's antenna case largely based on a finding that the US District court decided the merits of PRB-1 and somehow the circuit court sustained that. That is not actually what happened, but that did not keep the court from deciding it did. The opinion seems to cover anything the judge could think of to make sure the appeal was suppressed. The State court judge is new on the bench and came from the local law firms in that county, so we are not surprised. This court usually upholds the township appeal boards most all the time. The court would have also sustained the DePolo zoning board of appeals decision issued two years ago if we had decided to take that route instead of federal court, we are sure. DePolo prevailed in this same county court in 1999 on a 170 foot guyed tower only some 1800 feet away and on a smaller lot than he now moved to. This same court upheld that decision when the town appealed it, but that was before the FCC retreated in its position on PRB-1 in response to the League petitioning for "clarity" on standards as well as extension to HOAs, some 17 years ago. That's another subject however. Nevertheless, after consultation with a leading zoning authority in Pennsylvania, we are confident the case will be returned to the trial court by the PA appeals court. We expect a loss at trial anyway on whatever new grounds the court will manufacture. We will then appeal on the record (merits) back to the PA appellate court. In the meanwhile there are 2 more ham cases in the general geographical area which cannot now afford to file an appeal in both state and federal courts as recently required. Reasonable accommodation is now only what a town says it is, and no more. Attached are two documents. The court order with opinion and DePolo's explanation to the court in response to motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted. You will want to read the judges 3 page footnote on the rejection. Sounds formidable until one know the facts and the law, neither of which this honorable judge knows except what he has been "told" by the many briefs filed against DePolo. No review of any evidentiary record was made by any court anywhere yet. This judge even invented new facts that no other party argued. One example is - DePolo has two 17 foot antennas now. Fabricated - he has never had any antennas at his new house. Go figure. The briefs filed against Depolo are scanned images over 30 pages and therefore too big to attach. If you want them for some reason let me know and I can send a CD-ROM or one document at a time privately. DePolo's brief is in (largely) native PDF so it is a smaller file. DePolo's attached response contains a fair summary of the history of the case and the applicable law. I know several of you had continuing concerns both over this case and the state of PRB-1 generally. DePolo is widely known and heralded as an Amateur radio UHF - Microwave leader and owns and operated the University of Pennsylvania (N3KZ) repeater system serving some 5 states. The tower would support hundreds if not thousands of other hams. If you have a question or comment, feel free to call me at my office or drop me an e-mail for my home numbers to call over the weekends or evening. Happy New Year to all. Bob Famiglio, K3RF Vice Director, ARRL Atlantic Division 610-359-7300 www.QRZ.com/db/K3RF