SB QST @ ARL $ARLB049
ARLB049 ARRL seeks FCC review of PRB-1 decision
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ARRL Bulletin 49 ARLB049
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT December 22, 2000
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB049
ARLB049 ARRL seeks FCC review of PRB-1 decision
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'' and ''deed
restrictions''--often impede or prohibit the installation of outside
antennas.
The ARRL said its petition relative to the application of FCC PRB-1
policy to private land use regulations has not been afforded a
thorough review or a fair analysis. The League 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 ''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 League says it's not seeking any kind of preferential treatment
from homeowners associations, architectural committees or
condominium boards. In its Application for Review, the ARRL
suggested that it would be entirely consistent with PRB-1 for a
homeowners association to permit only a relatively small antenna in
a planned community, such as a backyard, ground-mounted vertical
antenna or a small Yagi.
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