Opinion ID: 2547076
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Plain terms of ordinance indicate amateur radio towers are exempt from height restrictions

Text: {19} We begin by looking at the language of the ordinance itself. Cf. State v. Johnson, 2001-NMSC-001, ¶ 6, 130 N.M. 6, 15 P.3d 1233 (When a statute contains language which is clear and unambiguous, we must give effect to that language and refrain from further statutory interpretation.)(quoted authority omitted). In interpreting an ordinance, courts give words their ordinary meaning, without adding terms the enacting body did not include, unless a different intent is indicated. See Hinkle II, 1998-NMSC-050, ¶ 5, 126 N.M. 413, 970 P.2d 599. {20} Plaintiff argues that under a straightforward interpretation of the zoning ordinance, amateur radio towers are a permissive use without height limitation in the A-2 zone. In his view, amateur radio towers are permitted in A-2 zones because operating a ham radio is a hobby customarily incidental to rural residential activity. See Zoning Ordinance §§ 7(B)(1)(a), (d), 8(B)(1)(a). The ordinance does not expressly enumerate amateur radio towers as a permissive use, but it does expressly exclude them, along with a number of other structures, from the height limitation of twenty-six feet. Id. § 22(B)(1) (providing in the supplemental regulations that height restrictions shall not apply to amateur radio towers and other structures such as belfries, chimneys, flagpoles, smokestacks, silos, water towers, and windmills). Under the plain meaning of the words used in the ordinance, Plaintiff contends, this express exemption tends to indicate that the County contemplated amateur radio towers as permitted structures in the A-2 zone, and viewed them as customarily incidental to residential use. {21} The Court of Appeals, on the other hand, concluded that the ordinance was ambiguous because it did not define customarily incidental. See Smith, 2004-NMCA-001, ¶ 17, 134 N.M. 737, 82 P.3d 547. Rather than interpret the supplemental regulations as a blanket exemption from height restrictions, the Court of Appeals read Section 22 as simply meaning structures such as amateur radio towers were not subject to the twenty-six-foot height limitation. Id. ¶ 18. The court found that an independent inquiry remains as to whether the particular structure constitutes a customarily incidental use under the zoning ordinance, an inquiry that takes place in context, considering the physical characteristics of the structure and the nature of the site. Id. ¶ 19. In other words, a structure that may be customarily incidental to a residential use at some level of scale may no longer satisfy the ordinance if it is oversized in the context of the stated purpose of the zone. The larger scale may not be reasonable as a customarily incidental use. Id. Thus, even though the ordinance specifies no height limit at all, the County could determine on a case-by-case basis what height limit should apply. {22} Unlike the Court of Appeals, we are reluctant to make a legal conclusion that reasonableness can be read into the ordinance as a consideration in determining customarily incidental use. The court cites no authority for doing so, and the ordinance says no such thing. A court may not legislate in the guise of construction by inserting matter in a zoning regulation not included by the legislative body. 8 Eugene McQuillin, The Law of Municipal Corporations § 25.71, at 223 (3d ed., rev.vol.2000). In our view, the Court of Appeals added terms to the ordinance that were not there. See Burroughs v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 88 N.M. 303, 306, 540 P.2d 233, 236 (1975) (stating that we follow the plain language of an ordinance, and will not read language into it if it makes sense as written). {23} Rather than remain silent, the County directly addressed amateur radio towers in the ordinance by exempting such structures from height restrictions. If the County intended to limit customarily incidental uses in the A-2 zone, or to limit the height of amateur radio towers and other structures, it could easily have done so in express terms. The County knew how to impose height restrictions in other zones. See Ordinance 1999-6; cf. Smith, 2004-NMCA-001, ¶ 16, 134 N.M. 737, 82 P.3d 547 (offering the same rationale to explain why the 1996 amendments to the O-1 zone did not automatically change height restrictions in the A-2 zone). Instead, the ordinance expressly exempted amateur radio towers from all height restrictions. {24} We observe that the Planning Commission was not unaware of this potential problem. During the hearing on remand from the district court, the commissioners recalled that several years prior to Plaintiff's case the County zoning staff was asked to develop amendments to the ordinance addressing height regulations for amateur radio antennas above sixty-five to seventy-five feet. No action was taken. While we agree that the Planning Commission could pass regulations to restrict the height of amateur radio towers as a customarily incidental use, the Planning Commission has not done so. We will not read a reasonableness requirement into the ordinance to alleviate a problem that easily could have been avoided some time ago, particularly when the Court of Appeals cites no authority for doing so. [1] {25} Our review of cases from other states supports Plaintiff's belief that amateur radio antennas are generally considered customarily incidental to residential use without adding a reasonableness inquiry. See, e.g., Town of Paradise Valley v. Lindberg, 27 Ariz.App. 70, 551 P.2d 60, 61-62 (1976)(holding that the erection of a ninety-foot amateur radio tower in conjunction with a homeowner's hobby as a ham radio operator is a permissible accessory or incidental use); Skinner v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment, 80 N.J.Super. 380, 193 A.2d 861, 863-64 (Ct.App.Div.1963)(upholding a 100-foot radio antenna tower used as a hobby as an accessory use customarily incidental to the enjoyment of a residential property); Dettmar v. County Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 28 Ohio Misc. 35, 273 N.E.2d 921, 922 (Ct.Com.Pl.1971) (finding that even an unusual customarily incidental use is permissible unless specifically excluded by a zoning restriction). Only two states require an independent inquiry into the degree of use. See Marchand v. Town of Hudson, 147 N.H. 380, 788 A.2d 250, 253 (2001)(finding scale relevant in determining that three 100-foot amateur ham radio antenna towers were not an accessory use); Presnell v. Leslie, 3 N.Y.2d 384, 165 N.Y.S.2d 488, 144 N.E.2d 381, 383 (1957)(observing that scope of amateur radio operator's hobby may carry it beyond what is customary or permissible). {26} Based on the plain language of the ordinance and the judicial treatment of the term customarily incidental in other jurisdictions, we are not convinced that the ordinance, in leaving customarily incidental undefined, implicitly requires or justifies an independent determination of reasonableness. Without adding any words, the ordinance appears to allow amateur radio towers as customarily incidental to residential use and, in express terms, specifically exempts them from height restrictions. Apparently, County zoning officials once read the ordinance that way, and a diligent citizen was induced to rely reasonably on that same interpretation. As we shall see, this is persuasive evidence that the ordinance ought to be construed by the County in a similar manner so as to permit the towers.