Golden – The six-year battle over a proposed broadcast tower on Lookout Mountain is far from dead, with proponents and opponents sparring this week over a recent poll.
Lake Cedar Group, a consortium of major metro TV stations that has sought tower rezoning, commissioned the poll “to get a better understanding of what the attitudes were in the broader community in Denver about access to the latest technology,” said spokesman Marv Rockford.
The tower would provide digital, high-definition TV signals. In late September, the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners rejected the rezoning, which has been fought by an umbrella group of homeowner associations and the city of Golden.
Rockford said the poll of 400 randomly selected registered voters in nine Front Range counties was done “to keep this issue in front of people who would benefit from the technology and their leaders to get a resolution.”
Golden officials had a different view. “It’s a clever political move to try to isolate Golden and to phrase questions in such a way to make everybody hate us,” said Golden City Manager Mike Bes tor.
Pollster Lori Weigel of Public ap Strategies said tower support grew from 58 percent to 79 percent when “details on the consolidation and replacement tower” were provided during the Nov. 2-3 survey.
Support swelled to 94 percent agreeing and 74 percent strongly agreeing that “local elected officials ought to be more concerned with working together to benefit all the residents of the region,” Weigel said.
Lake Cedar Group officials say a “strong majority” of those polled back the plan, which would replace four major towers with one.
Bestor called the survey “basically a push poll that is trying to influence people,” noting that two poll questions linked free over-the-air TV with Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina.
“The poll doesn’t ask about the impact on people’s homes and doesn’t talk about how they (Lake Cedar) could spend a little more money and find other options,” Bestor said.
Golden has notified Lake Cedar Group of its intention to buy some of the proposed tower site as open space. An appraisal is expected by year’s end. The city plans to use its eminent-domain powers if Lake Cedar Group spurns the city’s offer.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
