Please see Ron's note below and consider contacting your elected Representatives to show your support using the sample letter that Ron has included here.
.....note from WB2WGH:
"Many of us live in CCR () areas. Per the ARRL, the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015, H.R.
1301, has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. The measure would
direct the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of
Amateur Service communications to private land use restrictions.
I know many amateurs are not impacted by CCRs but I as one,
you like to suggest any amateur, whether impacted or not by CCRs, support the
bill assuming they are so motivated. To support, the ARRL has provided guidance
as follows:
·
A sample letter is attached (downloaded from the ARRL site above)
·
Per the ARRL guidance, the letter should be addressed to your
congressman (by name) and one can find his/her name and address at http://www.house.gov/representatives/
·
The letter should include your call sign and must be signed
·
ARRL is suggesting a PDF copy of the signed letter be sent to the ARRL
for subsequent delivery to Congress due to some of the security procedures
instituted for congressional paper mail. To e-mail the PDF to the ARRL:
o Include the phrase
"HR 1301 Grassroot Letter" in the SUBJECT field of your email
·
If you do not have the ability to scan the signed letter as a PDF, it
can be sent to the ARRL at the address below:
ARRL
Attn:
HR 1301 Grassroots campaign
225
Main St
Newington
CT 06111
Thanks in advance for your consideration!
Enjoy,
Ron Panetta, WB2WGH"
-----------------------------------------
Some additional background on the issue; "Private land use restrictions that prohibit antennas are growing at an alarming rate all over the country,” ARRL President Craigie said in stressing the urgency of the current campaign. “This is not just a problem in cities, suburbs, and gated communities. It is everywhere.” Part of the problem, she explained, is the uneven application of Amateur Radio antenna regulation from the public to the private sphere.While her Virginia county has what she called “a very satisfactory antenna ordinance,” similar accommodations do not extend to developments where homeowners associations and private land-use regulations hold sway.
“Not far away in the same county, a bright young electrical engineer who has recently returned to Amateur Radio lives in a newer development that has private land use regulations flatly prohibiting antennas,” she said. “How does that make sense? In our rural and small-town county, every new development must have a homeowners association, and they all prohibit antennas with cookie-cutter language.”
As President Craigie sees it, H.R. 1301 is all about fairness. “H.R. 1301 seeks regulatory parity for my young, technically sophisticated friend — not a blank check, not the heavy hand of the federal government, but simply the same opportunity for him to negotiate reasonable accommodation that I had because of PRB-1,” she said. “It seeks a level playing field for him and me.”
President Craigie said she reached out to her Member of Congress to support H.R. 1301, and she was successful. She asked other radio amateurs to do the same.
“If private land use restrictions do not affect you, please stand up for your fellow amateurs,” she urged. “Please stand up for the youth we all want to attract into Amateur Radio. What is the point of helping youth get their licenses if they cannot go on to develop the skills of Amateur Radio because they cannot have antennas in their neighborhoods?”
-----------------------------------------
Sample ARRL letter:
(Cut-and-paste or request the word document file by sending an e-mail to N2VZ@aol.com)
DATE
CONGRESSPERSON NAME
CONGRESSPERSON ADDRESS
Dear Representative _____________:
I am a constituent in your District and I want to bring an issue to your attention. I am a federally licensed Amateur Radio operator, one of nearly three-quarters of a million licensees of the Federal Communications Commission in the United States.
We provide communications support for, and participate in public service events on behalf of our communities. During and in the aftermath of disasters and emergencies, when other forms of communications are unavailable, we provide communications for first responders and Federal, state and local governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies, including the Red Cross and Salvation Army; for the United States Military through the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS); and to our neighbors when communications systems are overloaded or fail. Radio Amateurs contribute to the future of telecommunications as we participate in the development of innovative technology in this digital age. Amateur Radio is non-commercial, and we provide our services at no charge to anyone.
We cannot do any of these things, however, unless we can erect an outdoor antenna at our residences.
Recently, a bi-partisan Bill, H.R. 1301 - “The Amateur Radio Parity Act”, was introduced by Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) with Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) and eleven additional original co-sponsors. HR 1301 directs the FCC to extend their existing PRB-1 regulations of “reasonable accommodation” of Amateur Radio communications to include private land use regulators. This would afford us the ability to negotiate with homeowner’s associations in residential developments. Private land use regulations routinely include restrictions that completely preclude Amateur Radio communications operators from installing any type of outdoor antenna system. The “reasonable accommodation” policy has for 30 years applied to municipal zoning ordinances. This Bill would extend the policy to operators living under private land use restrictions. The FCC has asked Congress for guidance in this area and this Bill provides it.
As your constituent, I am asking that you support the bill by signing-on as a cosponsor. Please contact Rep. Kinzinger’s office to do so. If you have any questions, please contact ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, attention Dan Henderson, at 860.594.0236. Thank you.
Sincerely,
LICENSEE NAME & CALL
LICENSEE ADDRESS
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