GOLDEN — The Jefferson County commissioners today reluctantly approved the rezoning for a HDTV tower that will serve the Denver metropolitan area.

"The battle at this point is at the federal level," said Commissioner Kathy Hartman, referring to a citizen's group challenge of a federal law mandating the tower's construction.

The county commissioners have twice before approved the rezoning but opposition from residents has kept the issue alive.

Residents have for six years opposed construction because of health and safety concerns.

The Lake Cedar Group, a consortium of television channels CBS 4 News, Denver's 7, 9News, and Channel 20, has started construction on a 730-foot high tower on Lookout Mountain west of Golden.

Senators Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., cleared the way for construction in December when they carried a bill that required a tower to broadcast a digital signal for all television channels be in place by 2008.

"Lake Cedar won today," said Deb Carney, an attorney for Canyon Area Residents for the Environment. "History will judge this very harshly."