On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 02:07:32 GMT, "Midwest Kid"
wrote:


"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

I can understand where people have a right to not want someone storing a
dozen rusty cars on their front lawn, or allowing their grass to get 3'
tall.. but as far as antennas, etc.. they have no business telling a
homeowner what to do. It's not right that they should be telling people
what color they can paint their house, what kind of plants or animals they
can or cannot have, etc..

Then why the hell is it 'right' that they tell your neighbor they can't have
12 rusty cars in their yard? If you want to live without rules, get an
older farm house or something. Don't move into a neighborhood and then
complain about the rules you disagree with.

And that would solve what LOL
The majority of the land around here is zoned although the zoning
varies from township to township and county to county.

Here, even if you own the biggest farm in the region you still can't
have a pile of rusty cars in your yard. Now you could get your area
rezoned commercial and then get a license and then create a junk yard,
but it's more difficult to get farm land rezoned than to put a junk
yard near a residential area. You'd probably stand a better chance of
trying for the center of main street down town.


I attended a township meeting in another county and high on their list
was going after some guy who kept hauling junk into his yard against
zoning. (they figured most of it was stolen but old iron pipe and
tanks are difficult to trace).Another was some one with a bunch of old
tires laying out back. Besides being unsightly they are a health
hazard (mosquitoes and West Nile Virus) along with being a fire
hazard. One pile in a neighboring county caught fire. Now there was
a fire. There were over a million tires in that pile and it was a
legal storage.

Zoning tends to be along the lines of common sense. Safety for one
thing. CC&Rs OTOH are what some one wants to see, or not see, done or
not done, conformity. The ham tower serves a function whether of the
greatest aesthetic appeal or not. The rusty cars benefit no one
except possibly the owner.

So to when it comes to CC&Rs Vs ordinances. CC&Rs are open to
interpretation by the HOAs and they can change those interpretations.

Say you move into a nice subdivision and like many the CC&Rs are so
vague you need to get a legal opinion. Not satisfied you have the
head of the HOA give you his/her opinion. As far as they are
concerned you can put up that 100 foot tower on your 4 acre million
dollar lot with the two million dollar home. You purchase, move in,
put up the tower and get a visit from the members of the HOA who tell
you the tower must come down. You point out the discussion with the
head of the HOA and they simply state they must work in unison and
he/she does not speak for the entire HOA.

Say you had the foresight to get the contract in writing. The same as
above applies. Or they can downright change their minds as to the
interpretation. Now with a lengthy legal battle and I assume any one
owning a house and lot worth three million could afford to do that,
there is no guarantee you'd win. Also due to being the outsider you
would open yourself up for harassment which you might have a difficult
time proving.

So back up to the zoning and regulations. Say you don't have to worry
about CC&Rs, but discover the township has a prohibition against any
structure over 25 feet. Typically, with a tactful approach pointing
out that they are superseding a federal law when it comes to amateur
radio towers might get you that variance. We had just such a case in a
township north of Midland. Several hams had tried for years to put up
towers, but to no avail. A new guy moved in and several months later
had a 60 foot tower. He took the proper approach and was prepared.

OTOH if the township is immovable, you most likely will win a court
battle and lawsuit, but it takes money to do that. Most often a *lot*
of money. Normally a lot more than you'd get back. Vindictive
township officials can be a royal pain, but nothing like vindictive
HOAs.

OTOH you might discover there are no homes available without overly
restrictive CC&Rs within 50 miles of your new job that pays $50,000 a
year. What HOA are you going to fight on that much?.

Having said all that, I fully expect to see passage of a bill that
will void any CC&R restriction on ham antennas deemed unreasonable
within the next decade IF government continues in its current
direction of recognizing the amateur service as an asset.
Particularly in the light of Homeland Security.

You'll have to fix the return add due to dumb virus checkers, not spam
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair?)
www.rogerhalstead.com