Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has intervened in a dispute between KDVR-Channel 31 and a developer who wants to erect a tower crane that the Fox affiliate says could interfere with its broadcasts.
After receiving a call from the station Wednesday, Hickenlooper called Public Works manager Bill Vidal. Vidal told his staff to hold off on approving Brent Snyder’s request to close one lane of East Fifth Avenue today so he could install the crane.
The station had previously threatened to request a restraining order to keep Snyder from erecting the crane on the site where he is erecting a seven-story apartment building.
The station says the crane, which would be across the street from its property at Lincoln Street and Fifth, would block transmission from its dishes to its towers on Lookout Mountain.
“Public Works decided to delay their decision in order to try to facilitate a resolution agreeable to both parties,” said mayor’s spokeswoman Sue Cobb.
Vidal was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment. Dan Roberts, the department’s deputy manager of operations, said Vidal directed the department to hold off on issuing a permit until his return Monday.
“I totally understand (Snyder’s) concerns, but we’re going to have to wait until the manager of Public Works is back in town so we can sit down and discuss this face to face,” Roberts said.
KDVR general manager Bill Schneider said he asked the mayor to stop the crane from going up to give the station time to fix the problem. It is critical, he said, that the station provide uninterrupted broadcasts to the community.
“All it takes is looking at the fires in California to know how quickly a situation can arise and how important a role television plays in the safety of the community,” Schneider said. “All we need is time to get this thing fixed.”
Schneider said the station, which is broadcasting the World Series, is waiting for Snyder to provide information about the crane’s location and height. He said he has a temporary solution he wants to test before the crane is installed.
“People could care less what’s going on between Brent and I,” he said. “What they care about is watching the World Series.”
Snyder said he’s surprised the mayor would get involved in a dispute between private-property owners without hearing both sides of the story.
“That’s a little disturbing,” said Snyder, who wanted to install the crane two weeks ago and said he is incurring extra costs because of the delay. “They heard one side of the story and made a decision. We thought this city was a bit different than all the other cities we hear about where influence and money make decisions. It kind of blows me away.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
