Bill to limit property restrictions on certain amateur radio antennas

[Tom Mahon]

This is a hot topic in many quarters. Ed Deichler (K2TE) has been providing us entertainment and practical instruction in antenna installation with his antenna travails. There is a bill languishing in the US Congress on the topic. Now, there is proposed legislation in New Hampshire. State Representative Glen Aldrich (KC1AAI) of Gilford has introduced legislation to “regulate the enforcement of property restrictions by a community association on the installation and maintenance of amateur radio antennas.” The language of the bill is below:

477:22-b Amateur Radio Antenna; Enforcement of Restrictions.
I. In this section:
(a) “Amateur radio services”, “amateur service”, and “amateur station” have the meanings given such terms in the Code of Federal Regulations, 47 C.F.R. 97.3.
(b) “Community association” means any non-profit mandatory membership organization composed of owners of real estate described in a declaration of covenants or created pursuant to a covenant or other applicable law with respect to which a person, by virtue of the person’s ownership of or interest in a unit or parcel, is obligated to pay for a share of real estate taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance, improvement, services, or other expenses related to common elements, other units, or any other real estate other than the unit or parcel described in the declaration.
II. No property restriction or private land use restriction of a community association, including a restrictive covenant, shall be enforced which:
(a) On its face or as applied, precludes communications in an amateur radio service regulated under federal law in 47 C.F.R, Part 97;
(b) Fails to permit a licensee in an amateur radio service to install and maintain an effective outdoor antenna on property under the exclusive use or control of the licensee; or
(c) Does not constitute the minimum practicable restriction on such communications to accomplish the lawful purposes of a covenant or bylaw seeking to enforce such restriction.
III. The amateur radio antenna licensee shall be required to notify and obtain prior approval from the community association concerning installation of an outdoor antenna.
IV. A community association may prohibit installation of any antenna or antenna support structure by a licensee in an amateur radio service on common property which is not under the exclusive use or control of the licensee.
V. Subject to paragraph I, a community association may establish reasonable written rules concerning height, location, size, and aesthetic impact of, and installation requirements for, outdoor antennas and support structures for the purpose of conducting communications in the amateur radio services.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

The bill has been referred to the Commerce and Community Affairs Committee. It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. I have contacted Peter Strohrer, the NH Section Manager for the ARRL to offer my assistance. I have not contacted Rep. Aldrich, yet. I will likely be back to the membership with information regarding contacting the house committee on this bill, as some of you may wish to offer your thoughts to them.

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Tom,

You can watch on the NH General Court web site to determine when the bill (HB-417) will come up for a hearing in front of the House Commerce Committee.

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_Status/bill_docket.aspx?lsr=0574&sy=2019&txtsessionyear=2019&txttitle=radio&sortoption=

Having served this past term as a House committee chairman, it is important that there are a lot of people who attend and show their interests as it does have an influence on the members.  That includes submitting a letter to the committee and testifying on the bill.  Those who can not attend should also send emails of their position to the Commerce Committee which can be done here:

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/links.aspx?x=3&id=29

The bill’s text and eventual amendments will appear here when you click the link “Docket”.

http://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtbillnumber=hb417&txtsessionyear=2019

Regards,

Frank Byron – kc1ksw

[Tom Mahon]

Good Afternoon,
The public hearing for HB417 has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 5th at 10:45 AM in Room 302 of the Legislative Office Building. I urge you to contact the committee with your thoughts on the bill. You can either attend in person or send an e-mail to the committee at:

[email protected]
(Please cut and paste the address into to your email)

You do not necessarily have to submit your remarks by the 5th, since the committee will be working on the bill at a later meeting or meetings. So, you have a week or so to act.

I can assure you that the committee will consider your remarks. They are very diligent in this regard. In addition, your email becomes part of the committee’s public record. The committee will likely not take any action on the bill until a later date, when they will review the comments and deal with any amendments before voting of final action as either Ought to Pass, Ought to pass with amendment, Interim Study or Inexpedient to Legislate.

I have a dental appointment the morning of the 5th and I am uncertain if I can make it to Concord in time to testify. If the hearings head of the bill run over their allotted times, then I might make it.

If you do attend the hearing, PLEASE SIGN IN, on the sheet at the table inside the entry to the hearing room. You do not have to personally testify, but you can and should indicate whether to support or oppose the bill. If you do decide to testify, keep your remarks brief and on point.

Keep in mind that the ARRL Board (sic) is reviewing its position on the bill that has been languishing in Congress. They may decide to withdraw the bill because of the concerns raised by the membership over the usefulness of the language of the bill.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me [email protected] or phone at 494-2579.

73
Tom Mahon
AB1NS

[Author]

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