ARRL Reaches Agreement with Community Associations Institute on Parity Act

Having read the substitute language, I think this is liable to generate a LOT of litigation.

* "effective" is somewhat vague. I do not agree that it is unconstitutionally vague, in the sense that a court could probably draw principles / standards from other laws and Part 97 (to me, effective means "enables a ham radio operator following best engineering practices to effectuate the goals of the amateur service stated in 97.1).

* the least-restrictive means test as applied against the HOA is basically a fact question that will need to be decided by a court (I doubt "reasonableness" will actually be the issue at hand).

* A few scenarios will play out basically begging for lawsuits:

*** Ham operator notifies and seeks permission from a Board with no written rules on the subject, or rules that are facially defective. Board rejects, ignorant of the law. Ham either sues for injunction or ignores them. (Note that if the Ham simply ignores that HOA then he has operated without permission as required by Part 97).

*** Ham operator notifies and seeks permission from a Board. Board hastily drafts up rules to comply with the law and rejects. Ham sues for injunction on basis that rules fail the least-restrictive means test. Court battle drags on for months.

*** Ham operator notifies and seeks permission from a Board. Board has rules that cover ham antennas, but Ham is not satisfied. Lawsuit.

Maybe the best outcome, although one that would technically be outside the law (as the law permits rules only relating to "height, location, size, aesthetics"), would be for the HOA to basically approve requests subject to payment of a substantial fee. In other words, the street-smart HOA board will see this legal uncertainty as an opportunity to extract a bribe, rather than to breed a lawsuit.

 

For better or worse, the proposed compromise means that the three most important words a ham radio operator must know how to use, are "I WILL SUE."

 

Disclaimer: I recently went back on the State Bar of Texas "active" list.

I am NOT your lawyer (I have a full time job as a web server admin). And I am NOT posting this seeking employment, just sharing my opinion on a proposed law.

 

This is stupid. We got nothing out of it. The ARRL really blew this one. I did, however, find the one way to beat HOA restrictions. I moved!

(In 2013 I left a major metropolitan area and relocated to the U.S. Mountain West. I'm now live on several acres and my nearest neighbors are almost 1/2 mile away. No TVI complaints (yes, I run 6 meters sometimes) and NO HOA restrictions. I should have done this 30 years ago!)

 

TVI complaints is an interesting issue. It seems that on its face, the proposed law would NOT allow an HOA to pre-emptively refuse permission for an antenna based on TVI concerns.

I doubt that most HOAs will understand or appreciate this.

 

Yes, and that is the way - often the only way -we can move forward in a meaningful fashion. "We want the world and we want it now" won't work, despite the fervent wishes of some of us. Had the ARRL dug in its heels and refused to negotiate, this would have come to a dead end, like Hillarycare in 1993. To even engage in a meaningful negotiation is a tremendous political achievement.

For a time, some of us who want the benefits of living in a tightly-run HOA community and the enjoyment of ham radio with a more than minimal outdoor antenna will have to pay, probably more than a speeding ticket but less than a new rig, And those who co not choose this route would still be able to make the HOA come to the table and walk away with SOMETHING - which is a lot more than the NOTHING they have now. OSISI.

 

It does not allow covenants prohibiting effective antennas, whatever those may be, but it only protects hams in areas under their exclusive control, i.e. not in common areas.

So the questions should be:-

1) What is an effective antenna under the act (dipole at one wavelength high?); and
2) If the mounting point is on your unit, can the antenna extend into a common area? (For example, if the far end of your end fed wire is tied to a tree in a common area, where do you stand?).

73 de N3KIP

 

Aesthetic? Effective? Reasonable? Eye of adjudicator.

"What hath ARRL wrought?" Devil is in the details.

Stay tuned.

 

It is merely a guise. Hams handle disaster communications just fine, today, without protections for contesting antennas. In fact, nothing today precludes a ham from operating in a disaster situation, even in HOAs. Just no antennas at their home. Mobile operations are just fine and dandy. Volunteering at the EOC, good to go!

 

Of course!

When Buffalo gets clobbered by snow, just jump in your car and roll...


This is the kind of thinking of those who've actually never done it.

Here in CA where our disasters are mostly earthquakes and wildfires, people are often restricted to staying exactly where they are; road closures are common. When the power system fails, as it can for days at a time, gas stations can't pump any gasoline so better have a full tank if you expect to go anywhere. In our last reasonably large quake, the hams who helped with emergency H&W traffic were almost all doing so from their homes, as they really couldn't go anywhere.

Those who had backup power, mostly generators with sufficient fuel to ride it out, were on the air 24 hours a day from their homes.

 

See, in Buffalo, we believe in freedom and oppose privatized governments, refuse to buy homes with HOA's, and therefore, HOA's aren't a concern here.

Even if there was a huge problem with them here, an antenna at our house wouldn't help. It would have likely been taken down by the crazy snow storm that rolled through the day prior.

Amazingly enough, we were just fine, with a fully functional EOC providing communications to coordinate the snow removal. So, we don't particularly find a need for this law here.

 

Works for me. My nearest neighbors are cows, horses, coyotes. Without opposeable thumbs, they cannot operate TV's so RFI is not a problem. Next project: fullwave 80 meter square loop on 4 50-foot telephone poles in the Back 40. HOA's be damned!

 

Yes, I moved out into the country away from HOA terror! I figured I would be dead by the time this is fixed and it looks like I was right. But you know, given the last 10 years or so of congressional INACTION, Why would we think that they would get involved in helping hams? We aren't padding their wallets and at this point, (in their opinion) WE ARE THEIR SERVANTS and not their MASTERS!

 

I suppose you guys who live out in the country (hopefully without covenants on their property) don't feel the need for high speed internet service or other amenities. My current internet speed is over 80 mbps up and down. I have fiber service at my QTH. I love ham radio but it's not the only thing in my life. Finding new homes in suburban areas without HOA's or restrictive covenants is getting more and more difficult. I don't want to live in an are where there are no sidewalks or other 21st century amenities.

 

So, pick a home in an urban area... Not many really urban areas have HOAs.