[TVARC] HOA & antennas

[Floyd Larck, KK3Q]

Maybe something for those in TV:

Arizona Homeowners Association and Hams Agree on Outdoor Antenna Guidelines

05/13/2019

The Board of Directors of an antenna-restricted community in Arizona voted
overwhelmingly in April to allow radio amateurs to erect certain outdoor
antennas on their properties. Some 75 hams live in the 10,000-home Sun City
Grand, a self-contained residential community for older adults. An article
in the Grand Ham Newsletter by Gordon Bousman, NW7D, called it "a big win"
and said the Sun City Grand community homeowners' association (HOA) is
believed to be the largest in the US to permit Amateur Radio antennas. The
HOA board includes one radio amateur. The new antenna guidelines went into
effect on May 9.

"The road to success took nearly a year of meetings, negotiations, and
occasional setbacks driven by a team of dedicated amateurs who were
persistent in reaching our goals," Bousman said in his article. "While our
initial discussion points focused on the possibility of passage of the
[Amateur Radio] Parity Act, we later shifted our focus to the value that
Amateur Radio operators can bring to the community in the event of an
emergency or crisis."

Bousman told ARRL the group "somewhat" modeled its antenna proposal after
that of the Sun City Texas Ham Radio group in Georgetown, Texas, which
permitted several years ago. "In our research, we learned that Sun City
Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Sun City Henderson, Nevada, also allow
certain Amateur Radio antennas," he added. "There may be other communities
with similar antenna permissions, but we did not uncover any in our
research."

The types of antennas permitted are modest. The list includes flagpole
antennas that do not exceed 16 feet, verticals that do not rise more than 5
feet above the peak of a home, and wire antennas no higher than 5 feet above
the roof peak. No traps in wire antennas are allowed and towers of any type
remain prohibited. 

"[These] antennas should provide amateurs very adequate capabilities to work
long distances on the HF bands and to be able to adequately communicate
across our community on the VHF/UHF bands - as well as being able to reach
most repeaters in the Phoenix area valley including several emergency
repeaters," the newsletter article opined. 

Radio amateurs will need to apply to the HOA's Architectural Review
Committee Standards Office to obtain approval and may only erect two outdoor
antennas.

Bousman said more than a dozen antenna applications were submitted in the
first week and other hams are working on designs. "We have encouraged all of
our ham club members to get VHF/UHF antennas installed as soon as possible
so that we can begin our [emergency communication] exercises," he told ARRL.


The newsletter included technical information on various antenna
configurations and resources on where to obtain commercial antennas that
would meet the HOA requirements. As suggested reading, the newsletter
recommended four ARRL antenna books, including The ARRL Antenna Book and
Antennas for Small Spaces.