[HIham] House Bills 2773 and 2774 third reading on the House floor.

[Bob Schneider]

Aloha,

It is my understanding that HB2773 & HB2774 are to have their third
reading on the House floor on Friday March 5, 2004.  These bills would
require Subdivisions and Condominiums covered by CC&R's to "reasonably
accommodate Amateur Radio installations".  

To members of the House, please support these two "CRITICAL" bills.

I am the former American Radio Relay League Section Manager for the
Pacific.  I am a resident of Keaau, Hawaii.  I have been a resident of
the state since May 1964.  I have seen first hand the importance of
having Amateur Radio Communications available in as wide a dispersement
as possible.  This especially includes residences covered by restrictive
covenants such as subdivisions and condominiums.  

Regulation PRB-1 says that Federal law preempts state and local
government's rules that prohibit antennas for Amateur Radio Operators.
Local governments are required to reasonably accommodate Amateur Radio
installations.  For more information see:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/PRB-1_Pkg/index.html

PRB-1 does not cover Covenants commonly called CC&R's. In the state of
Hawaii there is a proliferation of such restrictions especially but not
limited to the island of Oahu.  Each new subdivision group tends to copy
what has been done in the past by others without really considering the
consequence.  The end result is that "Amateur Radio friendly" housing is
very hard to find especially on Oahu where the majority of the
population of the state lives. 

The result is that the percentage of Amateur Radio Operators available
during emergencies is much lower on Oahu then areas with fewer
restrictions.  This is evident by the large percentage of Hams that
check into periodic emergency nets from Hawaii Island (that has fewer
restrictions) as compared to Oahu.  

These bills will not open the "flood gates" to non restricted antenna
installations but will prevent the unilateral negative response some
subdivision and apartment groups have to such requests.  The response is
typically "Absolutely no antennas are allowed, you signed the CC&R so
you must live with it."  Should this bill become law, they would be
required to negotiate.

Some of the compromises that might satisfy both parties could be (1)
thin wire invisible antennas, (2) flag pole antennas, (3) palm tree
antennas, just to mention a few of the clever ways an antenna might be
hidden or present a low profile. To "reasonably accommodate Amateur
Radio antennas" can be widely interpreted with much room for compromise.
The response of "absolutely no" would no longer be acceptable.         

Mahalo, Bob Schneider, AH6J



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