As my regular readers know, the Volts we acquired about a year and a half ago changed us. We think the change is for the best. Of course, as we’ve become more “green,” we’ve become less tolerant of those who litter, pollute or just accept that that’s the way it has to be. One of the reasons for building our new, efficient home was to have solar panels added so that our carbon footprint would be reduced a bit more and so that we could lock in an electric rate that would not change for twenty years. I’ve written about this a lot, here, and here, and here. As you can see, I was anxious to get started with Solar City. Then the rug got pulled out from under us when the Architectural Committee of our Home Owner’s Association ruled that we could not put solar panels on our home. They deemed the project unattractive.
As I mentioned here, Texas law makes it pretty easy to overrule a Home Owner’s Association decision against adding solar panels, but only after the development phase of the neighborhood has been completed. Ours is still under development. In fact, the property next door is ready for the foundation to be poured. This is where I lack understanding: Isn’t it a sort of bait-and-switch for a developer or HOA to prevent a homeowner from adding a solar energy device if they will have to allow it later? If I was the sort of person who hated solar panels and had purchased in a neighborhood in which none were present, I would feel hoodwinked if, after I had bought the home, suddenly roofs started sprouting solar arrays.
It also does not seem very neighborly to disallow a neighbor’s desire to add solar panels if you will have to capitulate your position later. Why make the homeowner wait, spending more for electricity, until later when you cannot prevent it? How do you think that neighbor will feel about the neighborhood, the HOA or their neighbors?
As an olive branch, the HOA president asked if I would join an on-line “Green Group” on the neighborhood’s website. Trying to be the good neighbor, while awaiting the results of our appeal, I wrote articles about Rain water collection, composting, companies that offer 100% renewable energy, recycling, plug-in vehicles, etc. The only comment I got was one or two from the HOA president. I never wrote about our attempt to get solar panels or about solar panels in general.
Then I received the following email:
“Hi, Buzz.
Apologies for the delay, I’ve been traveling on business.
We did meet again with the lawyer and developer and the ACC decision still stands with the support of both so long as the neighborhood is under development.
Let me know if you’d like to connect in person and discuss. More than willing to do so if you’d like.
Ch“
In this neighborhood, you can erect basketball goals next to your driveway, in front of the house. You can park boats, camping trailers, or RVs in your driveway, in front of the house.
But you cannot have solar panels on your roof.
We are having a debate in our country, in fact around the world, about climate change, pollution, fracking, contamination of water supplies, declining air quality, etc. Still, people resist something as helpful as renewable energy! Over aesthetics!!
We are having a debate about the role of government and governmental intrusion into our daily lives and yet we have a quasi-governmental group, like an HOA, tell us what we can and cannot do with our private property. Yes, I understand the role of an HOA is to preserve property values by placing restrictions on what we can do on our property, but the average home that adds solar panels increases in value! I honestly feel, in this case, that the HOA is damaging us financially by making us pay more for electricity than we would be paying with solar panels, by delaying the installation of solar panels while energy prices continue to rise and preventing us from making a modification to our home that will increase its value.
I really just don’t understand sometimes…
The news for our solar endeavor keeps getting better and better. From “One Block Off the Grid,” the company that handled our interactions with SolarCity:
“We have an important message related to the Texas rebate offered by Oncor.
If you know anyone interested in the greater Dallas area, please put me in touch with them immediately. OR, please send them your unique referral link. Posting this link on Facebook produces tremendous results!
You are expecting people to be rational or logical? Good luck with that one. It is why I worked for myself. My first job in business was working for a 150 year old insurance company. When I saw members of the rating department waiting for hours for the repairman to fix their manual calculators for $35 an incident, I asked the office manager why some people had electronic calculators and why we continued to repair the unreliable mechanical ones instead of buying new electronic ones for about $100.00. I was told that there was no capital budget to acquire new equipment but there were office expense budgets to fix the old obsolete calculators. Until there were capital budgets approved, some people would have to continue with old broken down crap and calculate by hand when waiting for the repairman. I left that company and never worked for another company again. However, those who hold power over purse strings do not necessarily make any better decisions. We who own electric cars see the realities of operational efficiencies. Perhaps the rest of the world just continues to complain that they do not have enough money to maintain their “lifestyle.” My condolences for being someone who sees efficiencies. Sometimes it is a curse, but I enjoy your posts.
Without knowing how big your “neighborhood” is, or how many lots are yet to be developed (and the likely months of additional delays in legal processing before the HOA takes over full authority from the developer)…
I would be looking for a “constitutional” lawyer, and taking the HOA, the developer, and the Texas Law into a Federal Court for a judge’s ruling on its constitutionality.
You make undeniably valid points for a ruling in your favor, imo.
And, in the meantime, I’d be putting up a basketball goal along the driveway, buying a broken-down and rusty RV and parking it on some rocked-in lawn space, and parking a friend’s old boat across the front of the house, too.
And all that “green crap” you’ve been doing for them – for free… SEND THEM A BIG-ASSED BILL. Even if they don’t pay it, they should know what value you bring to any organization or effort. (You can always take the billed amount as a “business loss” on your taxes!)
BTW, the FIRST thing Satan did was create HOAs.and MUDs.
There’s another sure-way to change things: In a year or two, maybe you’ll be the president of your HOA! In the least, organize your neighbors to prepare for amending the HOA covenants to include limited terms of service on the HOA board.
Good Luck, and Best Wishes!