Legislation has been proposed that would allow people to put up clotheslines and install solar panels on their homes even if homeowners associations prohibit them.
Which is more important: Saving energy or preserving the appearance of the neighborhood? Tell us what you think on share.traingle.com. Click on forums.
Saving energy is important, however, environmentalists shouldn't be allowed to use this type of legislation to push a their larger agenda.
This proposed legislation has less to do with saving energy and more to do with the warfare environmentalists continuously wage against private property rights.
I agree. Who gave the environmental crowd all these rights to begin with. If the average citizen were to do some of the things that these people do they would be arrested. Its odd to me that the media seldom reports what is going on
with the crimes that the environmental people are committing. And what about PETA. And for that matter the
NAACP apparently has become the new justice department.
I'm glad the Legislature is considering this. Until reading this article, I had no idea HOA's had the power to keep someone from using solar panels on their home. I guess just another reason why I'd never ever live in a neighborhood that had one of these groups. Many of them seem to be on "power trips" and get their jollies telling homeowners what they can and cannot do to their house. THAT is the real warfare on property rights.
I hope this bill gets passed and put into law. The environmental and energy-saving benefits of solar panels far outweigh any "community appearence" bullcrap.
This is a "Mom and Apple Pie" question so the answer is obvious. The planet is more important, but that doesn't mean I support this bill. The bill in question is likely to have unintended consequences. If you read the bill you will note that the bill removes any controls on the installation of "energy device based on the use of renewable resources" but fails to define what that device is. It could be:
a photovoltaic cell array,
a clothesline,
a 5 megawatt commercial windmill,
a large tracking mirror that focus light on a solar collector in the yard,
black tar paper (the sun warms the paper and in turn heats the attic) In removing "any" controls it also trumps historic preservation law: It would be perfectly acceptable to cover the dome of the state capital with solar connectors. Same with the walls and roofs of landmark structures and structures in historic districts. Oddly it does specifically exempt condominiums, cooperatives, and apartments.I suspect the author of the bill did not intend it to allow the installation of dubious devices or commercial generation devices, however the bill does allow such things. I am also sure the author did not intend to trump preservation law, but it appears that it would have that effect.For these reasons I cannot support this legislation in its present form.
The bill can be found at http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/Bills/Senate/PDF/S670v1.pdf
OK...let's talk about how this undermines property rights.
Restrictive covenants on property bascially allow me to give up the right to say, let my grass grow chest high or raise hogs in my backyard. In exchange for me giving up those rights, if you sign a deed to live in the same neighborhood, you give up the same rights. The rights you give up are given to me and the rights I give up are given to you.
It is a voluntary mutual exchange, we all agreed to abide by the same rules. I can enforce them on you and you can enforce them on me. I have the power to make you cut your grass and you have the power to keep me from raising hogs in my backyard.
We all have a choice though, if you don't like the flavor of a particular neighborhood's restrictive covenants, then don't buy property in that neighborhood.
So, this is a most certainly a property rights issue. To enact legislation that overides these rights is simply another enviromentalist tactic to separate private property rights from their rightful owners. And the environmental movement absolutely chafes under the concept of private property rights and wars continually against it.
Oh, by the way, it sounds like this legislation may actually allow me to raise hogs in my back yard. I think on this half acre I can raise enough hogs to produce enough poop to produce enough methane to run a generator for my home. Whatever I produce beyond that I can sell back to the utility, and my neighbors can simply pound sand! Maybe this legislation is not a bad idea after all!
Can it be tweeked to exempt me from local zoning and state regualtions also? Anything for the enviroment, right?
Nobody cares about community anymore. It's all about appearances.
Well, while he may not be on the ballot, I'm a die-hard
Edwards supporter and will "WRITE IN" John Edwards rather than vote for either of the other candidates.
"I will go down with this ship..." (even though the
captain didn't)
ABS
I am continually amazed at all the flap at what causes crime
where a "gun" is involved. I for one would like to look at the statistics related to the background of the "persons" who are using guns to commit crimes. Guns do not kill or commit crime, people do. As long as we allow people to
reproduce at will with no planning, economic (self) support, and no real knowledge as to what being a parent is all about then we will have problems. If the government would get OUT of the child rearing business and demand some
common sense child rearing qualifications our crime rate would drop. Single motherhood is not the way to go. I think we are past the stagte of "mistakes" when it comes to
preganancy. It has become more of an economic thing with some mind sets and it must stop. Why is our government afraid to stand up to the plate and address this problem?
Maybe its high time the people did. I still, as I eluded to
earlier, would like to see the statistics on who is committing all these crimes and their family background and units.
Ummm - save the Earth?
I think the answer should be obvious - it will be more important to the intelligent to save the Earth rather than a tiny portion of it (the neighborhood). In the short term, energy saving devices such as clotheslines, solar water heaters, solar shingles, and solar panels will contribute to reducing the world's consumption of natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions. In the long term, I strongly feel that the spacious, multilevel 3000+ sft homes of today that are placed at a distance from our workplaces will have such a high energy cost associated with them and with the commute that they will lose significant value as compared to more efficient multi-family dwellings such as condominium towers that are located within reach of foot or mass transit to our daily workplaces. Our current dwelling models are extremely inefficient in terms of energy usage and will undergo significant changes. In order to maintain the value of currently constructed homes for the longest possible time, the installation of energy saving devices and improvements to insulation will be mandatory.