Good info, Gary.
The fact that the FCC passed this law for a commercial venture and
won't do so for ham radio certainly demonstrates the economic
imperative that is at work in Washington these days.
When I fought my fight against the CC&Rs, DSS didn't yet exist. There
were sat dishes but they were still large ones.
I found that neighbors who had been violating the CC&R's - and
especially the ones who wanted to continue to violate the CC&Rs -
switched sides and didn't want the CC&R's enforced against me because
they were afraid that the CC&R's would then be enforced against them.
Again, a gap between practicality and pure legality.
Michael
--- Gary Ferdinand W2CS <W2CS@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > This is practical advice, not legal advice. If you put it up
> rather
> > than ask for permission, they have to go to the expense of suing
> you to
> > get it down. And the expense of this will likely be more than any
> one
> > neighbor is willing to bear, unless you have the misfortune of
> having a
> > lawyer for a neighbor. However, a homeowner's association (if
> there is
> > one) may be able to spread the expenses out among all the
> homeowners
> <SNIP>
>
> > Remember, any violation of the CC&Rs counts. Improperly parked
> > cars or motorhomes, prohibited colors on houses, improperly kept
> > landscaping, small DSS sat dishes, prohibited animals, etc. All of
> > these are common CC&R violations that do not normally attract much
> > attention. But you can turn them to your advantage. In an ironic
> > twist, the tighter and more restrictive the CC&Rs the more likely
> you
> > are to find lots of violations. A really common attitude is that
> ham
> > antenna are bad but DSS dishes are OK. This works to your
> advantage.
> >
>
> One pitfall to the last sentence: In fact DSS dishes ARE OK. They
> are
> specifically permitted by a premptive FCC ruling. See
> http://www.fcc.gov.
> Lots of very specific words there that make no bones about it: No
> zoning
> rules or CC&Rs can disallow DSS dishes. The wording specifically
> talks about
> CC&Rs. They must accomodate DSS dishes in a place that allows good
> reception. They can also regulate the construction standards by
> which they
> are put up. But they cannot disallow them. So, that's not a good
> thing to
> compare with.
>
> I wish we had language like that specific to ham radio "antenna
> support
> structures." At least recently the ARRL appears to have changed its
> long-standing policy of not rocking the Washington boat by becoming
> more
> aggressive both with the FCC and in Congress. Likewise the
> individual state
> efforts maybe bear some fruit someday.
>
> However, the approach you mention is fraught with financial risk.
> First,
> you risk an injunction that requires you to pull everything down
> while the
> case is coming to court. Second, you risk the court case outcome
> itself.
> Your idea to first gather the evidence of other, unchallenged
> violations
> before doing anything is spot-on. However, the approach does not
> necessarily work: You could be told to comply with the CC&Rs and
> also given
> encouragement to file lawsuits against the other violations if you
> felt the
> need. Hardly a desireable outcome.
>
> I've decided my wires are hidden well and cause no neighbor
> heartburn, but a
> tower(s) would be over the top (no pun) and I'd prefer to have good
> relations rather than be the piriah of the development. Someday
> maybe NC
> will have a law like VA or we'll have some Federal help. I'm not
> holding my
> breath. I guess I could always buy a farm...
>
> GL/73,
>
> Gary W2CS
>
>
>
>
>
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