While recovering from the Flu, I watch the NOVA show on building the Eiffel Tower. What a neat show! One thing that jumped out was that the original tower had a 20 year lease, and was supposed to then come down. Seems that radio changed that! Before the demolition became reality, the French Military discovered […]
I'm sure many of you have heard through the grapevine (Reddit and Twitter) that I am currently engaged in a battle for my antenna.
A bit of background:
We chose this property very carefully. A lot not subject to the overlords of an HOA, large enough to support a modest antenna installation. A tower. A receive antenna. It met every requirement. I read the city ordinance and while it was not ideal, I felt it met my needs.
As you know, I put up my Gap Titan DX in June, which I believed to be within my legal rights to do. It has now come to pass that the city, and my neighbors, do not share this belief.
A few weeks after I first put up my vertical, a city code enforcement officer came to visit and informed my wife that the antenna was in violation of city code and would have to be removed or risk fines. The same day I went to city hall to discuss it with the city planner. Ultimately he and his staff came to the conclusion that my vertical antenna was (by their definition) an Amateur Communications Tower and would be subject to the zoning ordinance.
OK. I didn't agree with this ruling but I had intended to submit an application for a legit Tower at some point down the road, it just meant I would have to do that now rather than later. I put together a proposal for a 45' tower with a tri-band yagi and my ground mounted vertical. My intent was that I would be able to have one or the other or both installed. You know, flexibility.
So that was my proposal. I submitted it and sat back and waited for the comments to come in. Naturally, on my birthday, I get a message from the city planner that the comments have passed the threshold to require a super majority vote by the city council to approve. The comments from my neighbors were all predictable: what about my home values... what about safety... etc. All baseless and irrelevant. It upset me to some degree because I just don't know why everyone cares so much but I also knew the law was on my side.
It finally came time to have the first public hearing at the Planning and Zoning committee meeting. I gave my spiel and answered a few benign questions. Only two neighbors showed up to speak against me and they both sounded more crazy than anything, and luckily the committee saw that as well. They passed a motion to recommend approval to the city council 6-1. I was surprised!
Fast forward 2 weeks and it was the day before the city council meeting. That evening someone posted on the neighborhood Facebook page that there was this meeting the next day that everyone should attend, "THIS COULD PASS!" Dread rose within me. I wasn't so confident anymore. I knew there was a risk that my neighbors would band together to fight me and it looked like it was happening. Of course I could have planned ahead better and had some support from other hams in the city but it really didn't look like there would be much opposition after the sparse turnout at the P&Z meeting.
The next day, at the city council meeting, they showed up in droves. I think at least 10 people. Again, I gave my statement, this time much better prepared. I addressed all of the questions I was asked at P&Z and the comments from the neighbors. It didn't matter. I needed 6/7 council members to support me; one of them was absent, and another one seemed to have a personal vendetta against me when she asked me if a falling tower could hurt someone in 90 mph winds, as if you'll be just standing around outside (or in your house for that matter) during a tornado. Then neighbor after neighbor came to the stand and proceeded to raise ridiculous concerns about safety, one going as far as saying he was afraid my antenna would fall in his brand new pool over 100 feet away! To make matters worse, I was given no opportunity to refute any of their complaints. The council voted to deny my application 6-0.
I sent the city planner a note when we got home and asked what the path forward from there was. He said I can go re-apply with something different, suggesting I ask my neighbors what they would allow, or sue.
I met with a lawyer yesterday. More to come as things develop.
A week or so ago, we had an offer accepted for an awesome house in the Dallas suburb of Wylie. Let me tell you, buying a home in the Dallas area is NOTHING like buying one in Iowa! With 3 or more major corporations moving into the NE Dallas area in the next year or two, the housing market has exploded and it is most definitely a seller's market. I can't count how many times I've been told horror stories about people being outbid by 10% over asking with cash offers!
We were super lucky to spot this particular listing as it went up, on a Friday, before pictures had hit the MLS or internet sites. The way things go down here, there's just no waiting until pictures are up. If there's even a slim chance that the house will work for you, you had better go check it out!
Of course one major challenge for us was finding something that wasn't in an HOA. Unfortunately, the city of Plano (where we live now) is almost completely built out, and while its a great city to live in, any new construction will be in an HOA and the existing homes are so expensive, there's just no way we could make it work, so we started looking outside the area.
Lots of the little towns to the East of the metro are especially appealing; they're close to major roads so not too far from the action closer to downtown, but they're far enough out to be quiet and more importantly, cheaper. Also, some of the towns are pretty old so there's a lot more options that are not constrained by our HOA requirements.
Anyway, back to the house in Wylie. We saw this listing and we were shocked because it said it was built in 2015 and in a neighborhood we have driven through many times called Watermark. Other Watermark branded neighborhoods are your typical HOA havens with huge lake features and pools and so-on, but this one is out in the sticks, right on Lake Ray Hubbard. Intriguing but how is this place not in an HOA?
We drove out a few minutes before our Realtors arrived and while we were peaking around the lot, admiring the amazing houses on the block (all new within the last couple years mind you), the neighbor came over to say hello. As we talked, he revealed that there were 10 lots in the neighborhood that were not subject to the HOA, and that we were standing on one! We were shocked. A brand new house, surrounded by an HOA, but not in the HOA. A new home is something we had never expected to find, but there we were, looking at one.
And sure enough, this was the one. We put in an offer that day.
Then we had to wait for the title company to do their thing and pull all the restrictions and stuff. I thought for sure something would come back "NO ANTENNAS" but our fears were lifted as I read through the 202 page HOA documentation. Sure enough, there's the 46 lots that the document applies to, and ours isn't there! Of course they make sure to tell you that there's a formal way to join the HOA if you wanted to.... but who would do that?!?! I couldn't believe we were in the clear. (something interesting to note, the HOA CC&Rs do actually allow for an antenna, as long as it is not visible from the street, which is far less restrictive than I've seen in similar write ups before!) The only restrictions I'll have to deal with are the city of Wylie which has a 75' limit for towers and a special use permit requirement. I was only hoping to do about 40' anyway so the height limit is no issue though I suppose we will see how the permitting goes. In the mean time, I think I'm going to try to go with a vertical while I gather up the pieces for a respectable tower over the next year.
We don't close for a few more weeks but baring anything extreme, we'll be moved in before Summer and I'll be back on the air in no time! In the mean time, its planning and more planning, and waiting. I've got some great ideas for the new shack and I'm eager to get back into building and tinkering and all that stuff.
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