Should neighborhood covenants which ban rooftop solar panels be made illegal?

[LoZoccolo]

Poll question: Should neighborhood covenants which ban rooftop solar panels be made illegal?

[whistler162]

1. Aardvarks are orange in bananas!

or HUH????????

[slampoet]

2. I did a survey of houses in my neighborhood which dates to the 1750's & only four homes ......

.... that would have had their look ruined by a solar panel on their roof or garage.


All the hundreds of others would easily be able to install at least a water heating array and most likely an electric generation set of panels too.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. I have a problem with the way you phrase this.

Should a "movement" be made illegal?

Our constitution grants freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. If they ban a neighborhood movement they are denying those important freedoms.

If you want to approach the problem, I would say go after neighborhood associations that ban people from doing things on their own private property. I can not put up a close line, even if I want to in my association. Now, if I want to change the appearance of my house by putting up solar panels, I must get three of my immediate neighbors to say that is OK.

Hell,communal concepts lit that are practically socialism. :evilgrin:

But if you have the right to outlaw a movement you like, then they have the power to outlaw movements that you like.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. I would rather see building codes that require solar panels on all new construction

[Cleita]

5. But then I believe neighborhood convenants should be made illegal, period.

I resent being told what I can plant in my yard and what color I can paint my house. The only thing that should be banned is trash piling up in the front yard or anywhere it can be seen from the street.

[Igel]

11. I agree.

On some days.

On others, I can't.

Not all states and jurisdictions are the same, so that HOAs play different roles depending where they're located.

In my parents' subdivision their role is to maintain appearances and property values. They live in Arizona, and the subdivision has a color palette: Only certain house colors, stone colors, fencing colors are okay; only certain trees (otherwise the leaves spoil the decor). Can't park on the street. Etc.

In my subdivision in Houston their role is to maintain sanity. They go overboard and verge into what my parents' HOA is like (so we have to keep our yards properly edged), but Harris County has no zoning. Without the HOA there's nothing from the neighbor on my right from converting his house into an adult video store, the one on my left from opening a gun shop, the one across the street from starting a 7th Adventist Church, while the neighbor across the fence decides to start raising chickens and selling eggs.

[Cleita]

13. It's that no zoning thing and I noticed it happens in a lot of Texas.

But city councils and county boards should be in charge of zoning not a bunch of busybodies on HOAs and quite frankly I would resent your parents rules. I have specific plants and trees I have planted in my yard for various reasons and most of them ecological with the purpose of maintaining a wildlife habitat. If I were forced to put up trees that don't meet that criteria and have a lawn (I don't), it may look nice but it would be environmentally toxic. My yard looks nice anyway and frankly the way my stepdaughter and I maintain the property landscaping has improved the property value and it's three times more valuable today than when they first bought the property a decade ago. We do have laws about trash and killing wildlife and taking care of feral domestic animals that work in our county. My neighbor across the road has an acre and he is doing a complete remodel on three homes he has on the property. He has gone in a somewhat different direction and different from ours as he keeps dogs but what he is doing looks really good too and it doesn't make our neighborhood look discombobulated.

btw Beware the property values argument. Back in my parents day keeping up property values meant you didn't sell to African Americans or Mexicans. What will it be today, gay couples or midgets?

[Birthmark]

6. HOA's and the like are pure evil. eom

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

7. +1000

[Odin2005]

8. HOAs should be banned, period.

They are merely tools that allow yuppie control freaks that worship "land values" to harass others.

[dysfunctional press]

9. huh...?

They are merely ways yuppie control freaks that worship "land values".

sentence structure much...?

[Odin2005]

10. Fixed.

[X_Digger]

12. No. If you buy into the restrictions, they're yours.

Nobody's forcing you to purchase a home in a deed restricted / HOA / nazi whatever yuppie concentration camp.

(Can you tell I despise HOAs?)

However, invalidating a contract between two people should not be done lightly, and is an infringement on our right to contract. As such it would have to pass strict scrutiny (if I recall). This would not, I don't believe.