Hams -- File Written Testimony on HOA Restrictions!!

Yeah, sorry, N7WR, it does make you unpopular. This is exactly the point that we are driving home...WHY let the wishes of the developer override the hobby enjoyment of every homeowner who might live in the development over the next...what...500 years? Who is the developer that he gets to set the rules for all homeowners?

You do realize that it is not homeowners associations that are setting these rules...it is the developers who codify the rules into deed restrictions in the first place...don't you? And they are only doing it for profit. So, the desire for greater sales prices for the original developer is driving you away from your hobby. Still happy with your reduced ham radio footprint?

You also may not realize that these developers also are deed-restricing other common enjoyments with rules like no boat parking, no RV parking, no back-up generators, no satellite TV antennas, and some go so far as so no fireplaces, no loud lawnmowers, and no motorcycles! This is on top of restrictions like your house can only be be this color, the room can only use that material, the trim must be XYZ.

Sure, it is a choice to live in a deed-restricted, covenant-limited property. But some of the restrictions are...just going a little bit too far, in the interest of profit for the developer.

HOA's usually blindly follow the original restrictions of the developer...with the belief that they "beautify" the neighborhood.

 

And you cannot have the pickup truck you always dreamed of because you would have to park it some where outside the HOA controlled area. There are many more examples of this control being imposed upon you. Often without you being fully aware of what you agreed to. In the mountain of paperwork thrown at you when you purchase what you considered to be the "American Dream" and has now turned into a nightmare.
There have been studies of the expansion of HOA controlled areas and since 1970 it has been a massive explosion. Oddly it got worse after things like PRB-1 were passed. Think you're not being controlled??? Think again!!!
You can't just quit buying in most areas that HOA controls and go some place else. More often then not you will no longer find a place without HOA controls. It's even gotten out to the countryside far away from other population centers.
This monster is growing every year, it's not getting better, it's getting worse. You no longer own your home but you're going to be paying for it like you actually do own it. Yes, you can sell it and move some where else. The question here would be "Where would that be?". The expansion of HOA controls have even made it to so called "renovated areas" that where considered to be older homes before but now every new occupant in that area is subjected to HOA rules. These "renovated areas" can be anything including the worse parts of town. I do mean they can be anywhere. Who is going to stop them? Before long it'll be everywhere and there will not be anything you as an individual can do about it. Did you know that in most HOA areas your neighbor can sue you and not only will they get you to do what they want you to do but you will also have to pay for their attorney? Every single penny of it.
It cannot continue unabated and the only answer to get rid of a 500 pound gorilla is to get an 800 pound gorilla to take them on. The only recourse is through the law and those that make it. Getting that kind of action is like trying to move a stubborn mule. Not an easy task.
You guys have fun
73
Gary

 

So, how many times does the FCC have to tell you, "You signed the contract. It was your decision." and refuse to do anything about it? I live under no HOA, worse, I rent. When we move, for whatever reason, regardless of how much my wife likes a house, the deciding factor is, "Will I be allowed to put up at least 1 stealthy antenna?". If the answer is no, we keep looking. I'd live in a snow bank igloo before I'd agree to no antennas.

 

Thanks for the link, Lee, but none of the case studies mention any real emergency or any official emergency drill being affected by HOA/CCR.

The recurring theme is that the complainant states that participation in Amateur Radio emergency communications activities have been affected by his inability to install and maintain adequate antennas and support structures due to CC&Rs.

Not being able to check into a net from inside your house does not constitute missing an emergency or a drill. In fact, the word 'drill' is not present in any of the case studies.

I started doing real drills in 95 or so, the kind that actually have cops and firefighters and planned scenarios, I have done many of them and not ONE would have benefited from a ham at home on a fixed station. All amateur comms were either portable, mobile or from inside one of the many emergency trailers and vehicles and from police stations and hospitals, etc. In fact, I didn't even own a fixed station for the first four or five years I had my license and I was an assistant EC for part of that time.

I have been in Skywarn for just about as long. You don't need a ham license or a radio to participate in Skywarn. Every Skywarn event (real, like storms) we have had since I have been in it never took out the phones. Using ham radio as an excuse not to participate in Skywarn is not only lame, it is disingenuous.

Back to the case studies. If I were a lawyer I would ask exactly what each complainant's role would be in a real emergency, and where they would be operating from. I would want to see something in writing that required a private fixed station with an external antenna or a tower to be part of the scenario. I am confident none will be found. I have done real SAR missions and many government sponsored drills in four different counties for a period of a decade and a half. Never have we had any use for fixed amateur radio communications outside police and fire stations and hospitals and the Red Cross, all which are equipped with towers and obviously not affected by HOAs.

Besides, in a real emergency, a portable tower could be constructed if there was and absolute need. I have one and so does nearly everyone in our emergency ham gang. Once a year we have a get together and put them up in a park to play with them and show them off to the public.

The fact of the matter is that HOA's have no adverse effect on emergency communications at all. Not one bit.

And I think my clamp-on is a Greenlee, not an Amprobe.

 

When PRB-1 was being argued, the Department of Defense had this to say (paraphrased) about restrictions to ham antennas:

The only difference between preemption of state and local government's attempts to restrict ham antennas and CC&R's is the (erroneously) perceived monetary benefit to property values that supposedly benefit properties with CC&Rs.

Show me ONE SINGLE STUDY that's been peer reviewed that demonstrates ham antenna adversely affect property values. I'll simply tell you, there are none. The only ones done actually reveal no harmful affect at all. So the intent behind CC&Rs is false to begin with - preventing ham antennas has no affect on property values at all. Period. Nada. None.

So why are they restricted by most CC&Rs? No logical reason at all.

............Bob

 

My point had nothing to do with the logic behind the restriction. My point was using ham radio emergency service as an excuse to get out of a contract was not valid.

Also, read the DOD thing you posted. The only amateur radio service mentioned is RACES. MARS and CAP don't use ham frequencies.

Take a look at the requirements for a RACES drill. How many have you ever been in or even heard? Have you ever heard of RACES being activated by the government in the last 50 years?

How many people (even the complaints) crabbing about CCRs are even in RACES? It takes a background check for the most part. One is not in RACES just because they have a ham license. They have to be approved by the local jurisdiction's emergency management. 97.407 is the rule about this.

I think the cause would be better furthered by examining the origins of the rules against antennas and challenging the erroneous reasoning behind the rules and leaving emergency communications out of it.

Where did the DOD get the information leading to their conclusion, anyway? I'll bet it's purely anecdotal. I have taken my stance from actually being active, very active for a decade or so, in both ARES and RACES, most of which times I was an assistant EC.

Our selling point was mobility, reliability and frequency agility. We also were made familiar with the radios in the government EOCs. All the counties I live near have ham radio in their EOCs.

Private ham radio fixed stations are not in any of the drills or requirements. They are a luxury used primarily for play or to have a more comfortable place to operate than inside a vehicle or from an HT. Which, BTW, would be used in a real deal, not the nice, comfy, fixed station.