John the new FCC ruling allowing small (DSS) overrides CC&R's. On
the other hand the FCC in Feb 92??? in regards to "C" band dishes
says that you CANNOT discrimanate on tyoes of antennas. The ARRL
council should be very well briefed on that. Hope this helps and
good luck. Oh! the new ruling allows attornies fees payable by the
association. NEED TO GET THE OCT. FCC RULING Hank
The FCC acted with regards to dishes less than 1 meter in diameter,
MMDS ("wireless cable") antennas, and broadcast TV antennas, and ruled
that there must be a reasonable accomodation in allowing the use of
these services without undue burden on the homeowner. This ruling
does not specifically apply to amateur antennas.
The FCC previously acted to limit local ordinances, not deed
restrictions, specifically with regard to amateur antennas.
Many people, especially some homeowner's association members, believe
that deed restrictions are "contracts between individuals" and that
the FCC or any part of the federal government can' change them or
effect them in any way. This is of course totally wrong. The most
blatant example is that many properties (including a house sold a few
years ago by Governor Ann Richards) have deed restictions prohibiting
sale to certain persons based on their race or country of origin. The
federal government has rightly ruled these unenforceable, and that has
stuck legally, so I think there is ample precedent for them to rule
certain CC&R's unenforceable with regard to amateur antennas.
My case has the potential to clarify things with regards to CC&R's and
amateur antennas.
FYI, I have had a 3.5 meter diameter C band dish in my backyard ever
since the house was built - but it is mounted in an eight foot deep
hole next to a 6 foot privacy fence and is totally invisible from
neighboring properties unless someone looks through the fence for it,
and beleive me, I have no TI problems on C band. For this antenna, it
is possible to have optimum antenna performance with no aesthetic
issues. On HF, though, that is not possible. I was willing to spend
extra money for a retractable tubular mast, use a smaller antenna,
site it to reduce visibility, and lower it when not in use - but I am
not willing to forego having a rotable array altogether.
73 John N5CQ
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