🚀 go-pugleaf

Mark Gibson wrote:
> 
...
> I much prefer private sector covenents such as those
> most homeowners associations have.  I suppose there might be a
> legitimate public safety aspect to some zoning laws, but most are
> yet another means by which governments intrude unnecessarily
> into the marketplace and our private lives.
> 
...
Another case of "be careful what you wish for".  Licensed Amateur Radio
operators (hams) have increasing difficulty buying new houses where they
can participate in their activity, not because of zoning, but because of
Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) on the properties. 
Zoning laws generally permit and regulate activities sanctioned by other
government organizations for public purposes, including ham radio,
though they typically have things to say about antenna height, tower
safety, etc.  The most common CC&R about antennas absolutely prohibits
all kinds.  I suspect cable TV operators insist on this before they'll
wire a new subdivision; they need an assured customer base.

Regulation via zoning ensures that there is an appeal path; the property
owner has the right to take his case to the appropriate body and either
get the zoning ammended or get a variance for his own property, if
appropriate.  CC&Rs are theoretically supposed to be private contractual
agreements between the buyer and seller of a property, but in fact in
modern developments they are usually a complete, detailed specification
of the buyer's lifestyle.  Ammendments to the typical CC&Rs can only be
done by a vote of the Homeowners' Association.  If the Homeowners'
Association continues to be active, there is some kind of a way to get
CC&Rs ammended, even if it's often a kangaroo court.  In many
subdivisions, the Homeowners' Association continues to operate only
until the developer is out of the picture, then everybody loses
interest.  That leaves you as a property owner absolutely stuck with the
CC&Rs as written; any other owner can sue if they don't like something
you do on your property, but there's no way to get the regulation
changed, even if the majority of neighbors agree that it should be.  

In the case of ham radio, Federal law that licenses a station preempts
local laws that would prohibit it, but the courts have held that Federal
law doesn't preempt a private agreement that's otherwise legal.  This
means that there's usually no practical way to get CC&Rs fixed after a
subdivision is initially sold off, leaving malicious owners with a nasty
ground for a lawsuit against essentially any neighbor they don't like.

For example, just recently an owner near here was sued by a neighbor to
force him to replace a brand-new lightweight tile roof in a ~20 year old
subdivision.  The CC&Rs said all roofs had to be shake, which is very
flammable, and the owner was concerned about reducing the risk of fire
to his property (and his neighbors').  In court, the owner lost.  

The bottom line is that relying on CC&Rs lets some developer who built
your subdivision, maybe 20 years ago, dictate the details of your
lifestyle, usually including things like how much you can leave your
garage door open; whether you can set up solar heat; what style of roof
you can have; whether you can set up a basketball hoop; whether you can
have an Amateur Radio, CB, TV, or satellite antenna; and so forth.  I
consider this far worse tyranny than anything done by a government as
zoning.

73,
JohnW