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Going green can earn you your neighbor's wrath

Travis

Misanthrope of the Mountains
Travis
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Messages
24,133
In a previous thread I detailed my mom's fight to put in a drought resistant yard. She had to threaten to fight all the way through court before the neighborhood homeowners association relented and let her keep her rock garden instead of tearing it out to keep in line with their "tropical plants and lawns only" policy. So that was one win in a fight against stupidity. But now she wants to install solar panels and, this time, is getting in writing pre-approval for them. Only to discover that the homeowners association hates the things. They consider them "eyesores" and this has prompted my mom to get a rendering showing how unobtrusive they could be. So far they are not budging. One member of the panel even went so far to say that he doesn't care if the solar panels could be disguised as regular shingles in such a way that no one could tell they were were solar panels. Then again this guy comes across as the type that probably has An Inconvenient Truth on his 10 most hated films list.

Very frustrating. And my mom is at wits end as they even told her she couldn't put them up on the back side of the house where no one can see them. Her house costs a fortune to air condition in the summer so this was really an attempt to eventually curtail costs.

As such I find stories such as this to be interesting. It's my understanding that there is some sort of law in California that prevents the outright banning of solar panels so I'm going to suggest to my mom to investigate it. But having to take legal action for this is rather frustrating. If only it could be simple.

This story shows my mom is far from the only one to be frustrated by a neighborhood association's attempts to stop anything environmentally friendly.

So what are your feeling son this? Should there be laws preventing others from keeping solar panels off your roof because of spurious charges of them being "eyesores?" Should panels composed of angry old Tea Partiers be allowed to impose their anti-environmental ideas on entire neighborhoods?
 
I find it oddly refreshing that someone would specifically be opposed to solar panels for any reason.
 
Arus808 said:
Try this website:

http://www.hoalawblog.com/


this story:
http://www.hoalawblog.com/2011/06/homeowner_uses_billboards_webs.html
Metions about California having laws in place to protect the homeowner from demanding HOA
Click to expand...
Oooh good resource.

That site's blog post about california specific issues is http://www.hoalawblog.com/2010/10/how_to_deal_with_a_request_for_1.html
and cites california civil code 714 which states:
(a) Any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any
deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting
the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, real property, and any
provision of a governing document, as defined in subdivision (j) of
Section 1351, that effectively prohibits or restricts the
installation or use of a solar energy system is void and
unenforceable.
Click to expand...
and also states:
(f) Any entity, other than a public entity, that willfully
violates this section shall be liable to the applicant or other party
for actual damages occasioned thereby, and shall pay a civil penalty
to the applicant or other party in an amount not to exceed one
thousand dollars ($1,000).
Click to expand...
 
I would think the EPA could forbid HOAs and local governments from unreasonably restricting solar panels, much like the FCC forbids condo associations from prohibiting satellite dishes.

eta: looks like California law has mom covered anyway.
 
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The developer made little boxes on the hillside and they all looked just the same.



The HOA was invented to keep it that way.
 
WildCat said:
I would think the EPA could forbid HOAs and local governments from unreasonably restricting solar panels, much like the FCC forbids condo associations from prohibiting satellite dishes.

eta: looks like California law has mom covered anyway.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. This needs to be a national thing.

I just had a white roof installed (and I see it in my electric bill - it works) but if I had been two blocks away in the "historic district" I would have been prohibited from any color other than black.
 
tesscaline said:
Oooh good resource.

That site's blog post about california specific issues is http://www.hoalawblog.com/2010/10/how_to_deal_with_a_request_for_1.html
and cites california civil code 714 which states:
and also states:
Click to expand...


Oh good. I was looking for the code. I know that the Governator was responsible for singing into law various solar energy bills and thought that CA had one that covered Solar Panels on homes.

One reason why I will never buy a home involved in a HOA. I freaking bought the house, I should damn well be able to have purple grass, pink flamingos, an unsightly satellite dish and White solar panels if I want to.
 
Travis said:
So what are your feeling son this? Should there be laws preventing others from keeping solar panels off your roof because of spurious charges of them being "eyesores?" Should panels composed of angry old Tea Partiers be allowed to impose their anti-environmental ideas on entire neighborhoods?
Click to expand...

One of the most enjoyable things we get to do as lawyers is scare the **** out of people. It looks like the laws are clearly in your mother's favor, have her find a lawyer (this is something a friend of a friend could do, it doesn't really require any specific subject-matter expertise), and just go to the homeowner's association and have that lawyer explain how much money this stupid crap will cost them if they go to court.

Obviously she knows the interpersonal dynamics better than I do, but more often than not, people stop being dicks when they realize how much it could cost them (at least dicks with respect to that specific issue--she should prepare for a lot of passive aggressive retaliation).
 
They sure shut up quick about the front yard landscaping thing when my mom threatened to take them to court. And that law cited above sure looks like she has a good legal standing for the solar panel thing. I'm thinking they just try to "scare" people into not installing these "eyesores" and don't expect anyone to fight it.
 
Arus808 said:
Oh good. I was looking for the code. I know that the Governator was responsible for singing into law various solar energy bills and thought that CA had one that covered Solar Panels on homes.

One reason why I will never buy a home involved in a HOA. I freaking bought the house, I should damn well be able to have purple grass, pink flamingos, an unsightly satellite dish and White solar panels if I want to.
Click to expand...
Turns out that specific bit of law has been in place since 1978 :)

I live in a section of the country that abhors HOA's for the most part. Where places like california are rampant with them, they're somewhat rare up here in WA. Something that I love about this part of the country -- individualism is highly valued, even in terms of what one does with their real estate :)

There is one town here, that is an entire town covered by an HOA. It's frightening. And that town is having serious property value drops because of it. No one wants to live in a town (an entire town mind you) where it is against the rules to curse in public areas (yeah, you read that right), and where you are not allowed to have more than 3 unrelated persons inhabiting your home (seriously, not kidding here).
 
Travis said:
They sure shut up quick about the front yard landscaping thing when my mom threatened to take them to court. And that law cited above sure looks like she has a good legal standing for the solar panel thing. I'm thinking they just try to "scare" people into not installing these "eyesores" and don't expect anyone to fight it.
Click to expand...
Probably. A lot of organizations count on the idea that no one is willing to put out the effort (or money) to fight something, even if it's blatantly illegal.

Have her wave that law in their faces, and point out the part where they'd have to pay her for damages + $1000. They'll shut up even faster than last time. :)
 
theprestige said:
Show me someone who doesn't get along with their HOA, and I'll show you someone who doesn't get along with their neighbors.
Click to expand...
Show me someone who doesn't get along with their HOA and odds are very good you have shown me a person who is not a rectum and does not function well with those who are!!!:)
 
Kestrel said:
The developer made little boxes on the hillside and they all looked just the same.



The HOA was invented to keep it that way.
Click to expand...
Don't need to look - the great Malvina Reynolds must be at the other end of that click!!! (Or someone singin' her song).*



She also wrote a little ditty involving the Klan and their whompin' by an Indian tribe (back in the '50s IIRC). Had the line "Oh the Klan, oh the Klan!
They've hung their little nightshirts in the can......."
 
Arguably it is because of such laws that California uses less electricity (allegedly) than Texas despite having over ten million more people.
 
Travis said:
Arguably it is because of such laws that California uses less electricity (allegedly) than Texas despite having over ten million more people.
Click to expand...

The densely populated areas of California have a much milder climate on average than those of Texas.
 
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