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"delegated authority"--turned down an ARRL Petition for Reconsideration that--among other things--called on the FCC to
declare that PRB-1 applies to amateurs governed by CC&Rs or condominium regulations just as it does to hams regulated solely by local zoning laws.
The ARRL now wants the full Commission to review--and reverse--O'Brien Ham's decision.

The ARRL has argued that since PRB-1 was promulgated in 1985, the FCC has made it clear that it has Congressional authority to prohibit restrictive covenants that could keep property owners and even renters from installing
antennas to receive TV, satellite and similar signals. The same principle applies to Amateur Radio, the ARRL asserted.

The FCC cannot use the private contractual nature of covenants "as a justification for the arbitrary and disparate treatment of radio amateurs similarly situated," the League said.

The ARRL made it clear, however, that it's not seeking any kind of preferential treatment from homeowners' associations, architectural committees or condominium boards. "It would be entirely consistent with PRB-1, for example, for a homeowners association to permit only a relatively
small antenna in a planned community, such as a backyard, ground-mounted vertical antenna or one of the small Yagi configurations similar to an outdoor television antenna," the ARRL said.

The ARRL said that since the

FCC already has jurisdiction to apply PRB-1 to all types of land-use regulation and has said it's willing to "encourage" private land-use authorities to apply PRB-1, "there is no legal or policy reason for continuing the distinction" between private and public land-use regulation with respect to amateur antennas. The ARRL asserts that Amateur
Radio operators should be able to negotiate "reasonable accommodation" provisions with local homeowner's associations just as they now may do with governmental land-use regulators.

Many amateurs now say it's impossible to find desirable housing that comes without CC&Rs. The League's Regulatory Information Branch reports that the topic of restrictive covenants and antennas is one of the most frequently raised by members contacting the ARRL for information.

A copy of the ARRL's Application for Review is available on ARRL Web at
http://www.arrl.org/announce/ regulatory/prb-1/prb1afr.html

   Republished from the ARRL News letter.

   Let you r Congressman Know How you feel about this.

The ARRL is asking the full FCC to review part of an FCC Order that declined to include CC&Rs--covenants, conditions and restrictions--under the limited federal preemption known as PRB-1. Imposed by private homeowners' associations or by developers, CC&Rs--also known as "restrictive covenants" or "deed restrictions"--often impede or prohibit the installation of outside
antennas.

"ARRL's petition relative to the application of its PRB-1 policy to private land use regulations has not, to date, been afforded a thorough review or a fair analysis," the ARRL said in its Application for Review, filed December
15. The ARRL maintains that the FCC should have the same interest in the effective performance of an Amateur Radio station and in the promotion of amateur communications regardless of whether the licensee's property is
privately or publicly regulated.

In November, FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Deputy Chief Kathleen
O'Brien Ham--acting under