Hi,

Some time back, I did some looking around for an Arizona retirement
home. In an area with approximately 100k population, I saw exactly 2
real HF stations with a true antenna farm in a week. Both were owned
by people whose family had been there before the boom, and were
grandfathered. Except for that, I saw a low dipole, a couple of
flagpoles which were disguised verticals, and one StepIR vertical
standing proudly in someone's back yard. That turned out to be an
interesting story, since the residents of the new development had
voted not to form a HOA. So while it violated the CC&Rs, there was no
organization to enforce it.

Being a place where they prided themselves on being "rustic," they had
instituted some very tight zoning on antennas of every sort. However,
the real problem, from a ham standpoint, was posed by the HOAs and
CC&Rs. They were so standard and pervasive that except for some very
old areas, there was no place to buy which did not have them. As a
buyer, you had no input to their formulation, and because they are
considered private agreements, you had little appeal if you could not
get a waiver from the HOA. According to the locals, you basically
worked 2 meters, used a stealth antenna, or bought a house out in the
county. Way out.

I am all in favor of allowing people to pick an area where the
environment is congenial to them. However, when there may as well be
a sign on the city limits saying "Hams Not Welcome," even if that is
not the intend, it may be time to at least have a vigorous discussion
of the formulations of CC&Rs. As for me, I decided to stay were I am,
where they consider regulation the last resort, not the first.





--
Alan
WA4SCA