[Boatanchors] The Silence of the Bands

[B Farrell]

Brian,

I agree.  It's the restritive covenants that will be the problem, not the
HOA rules.  Courts are usually hands off when it comes to covenants and I
would be shocked if any court would be willing to set aside an existing
covenant to accommodate amateur radio antennas.  Neither PRB-1 nor OTARD
are likely to trump a restrictive covenant. That is the card that the HOA
lobbyists know their clients hold with this statute.

It's easy to wonder why people move into HOA neighborhoods and condemn ham
operators for doing it, but here, for example, new residents really don't
have much of a choice.  We moved into a strict HOA neighborhood when we
moved to Virgina almost 20 years ago.  Why? I was moving from another state
with my family to take a new job, the homes were nice, the neighborhood was
safe and had excellent schools and other amenities.  In Northern Virginia
there are many, many residential developments that have HOAs going back
many years.  Some are more restrictive than others.  In my estimation if
the HOA came into existence after 1980 there are more covenants and rules
than older neighborhoods, but even neighborhoods built in the 1960s and 70s
have them.  As passionate as I am about amateur radio, I can certainly
understand when someone moves into Northern Virginia - especially the many
military families who come and go - hobby is not top of list in choosing a
neighborhood, and often there is almost no time to hunt for a home.  You
have more options if you have ample time to find the right neighborhood.
This would certainly vary by region, but it is a fact of life here.  And
I'm not knocking HOAs.  They have their good points.  I chose to locate in
a strict HOA knowing that my ham on-air activities would be restricted. And
that was the right decision at that time.

Brad K4RT


On Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 9:41 PM, Brian Harris via Boatanchors <
boatanchors at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> It is highly likely nobody will beat a CCR. It's been tried many times
> only to fail.  An HOA, maybe. That said, why any amateur radio operator
> would voluntarily choose to move into a home with deed restrictions or an
> HOA or both is ludicrous.  For good reason I live on a CCR-free 26 acre
> mountain top where I am the HOA, okay, okay, my wife is.
>
> Wa5uek
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Sep 20, 2017, at 8:12 PM, Gary Peterson <kzerocx at rap.midco.net>
> wrote:
> >
> > Prior to the passage of OTARD (look it up on a search engine or the FCC
> web site), HOAs could prevent a homeowner from putting up a small satellite
> dish for Dish Network or DirectTV or a Yagi for off air TV reception.
> >
> > OTARD preempts unreasonable restrictions that would prevent a homeowner
> from accessing these services, including wireless Internet.  To the best of
> my knowledge, OTARD has never been overturned in court.  The amateur radio
> bill purports to accomplish a similar outcome for licensed radio amateurs.
> Some HOA restrictions would prevent a licensed amateur from using a VHF/UHF
> handheld inside their home, while saying nothing about illegal drug use.
> >
> > I am not a lawyer and I don’t play one on television.  It causes me to
> wonder if covenants, deed restrictions or a homeowners association could
> legally, contractually restrict any of a resident’s Constitutional rights.
> Could a HOA contractually abrogate a person’s right to not be subjected to
> unreasonable search and seizure or firearm ownership?
> >
> > Gary, KzeroCX
> >
> > “The problem with the ARRL's bill in
> > Congress is that when push comes to shove and the HOAs go to court to
> > challenge that statute, the law is on their side and courts will more
> than
> > likely uphold the covenants that have long been in place irregardless of
> > the statute.  Brad K4RT”
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > Boatanchors mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
> >
> > List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF
> > ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
> >
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>
> .
> ______________________________________________________________
> Boatanchors mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
>
> List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF
> ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
>
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>