There are only 23 properties listed on the Historic Registry -less than 15% of the homes in Oella.
To be eligible for inclusion on the Maryland Historic Registry, a property must be historically significant at the local, state, or national level for one of the following reasons: associated with important events or broad patterns of history; associated with the life of a significant person; representative of a type or style of architecture, or the work of a master; or have the ability to yield new information (generally for archeological sites). Properties must also possess integrity – the physical features that convey the property’s significance.
Any property in Oella that is not eligible to be included on the Historic Registry, or is not currently included, has the right to install solar on their property in the optimal location to capture clean solar power.
Rendering of a non-historic Oella house with Suntech low profile 175watt Solar Panels.
The HOA board and ARC are more concerned with Historic Preservation and stopping solar from having any visibility in Oella than honoring Maryland's Solar law.
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10/14/2009 email from the Md. Historic Trust:
Mr. Pettit, I apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry. A house built in 2000 would not contribute to the significance of the Oella Historic District, since its construction date falls outside the Period of Significance established for the district (c. 1812-1919). Generally, for a property to be individually eligible for the National or Maryland Registers, it needs to be at least fifty years old AND demonstrate significance in terms of the criteria you cited. So I can confirm your conclusion that the property would not qualify for listing in the Registers.
Thank you for your interest in our programs.
Peter E. Kurtze
Administrator, Evaluation & Registration
Maryland Historical Trust
100 Community Place, 3rd floor
Crownsville, MD 21032-2023
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It is interesting to note that someone on the HOA board directed the HOA management company to hand deliver written notices regarding the ARC appeal of our solar application to only 9 Oella HOA members and not the entire HOA membership. The HOA board stressed the significance and importance of this first ARC appeal- one would think the entire Oella membership would have been notified and given the opportunity to participate in such an important decision.
Now Oella's HOA, which is facing a significant operating reserve shortfall, is faced with litigation expense and damages. Such an absurd use of HOA monies precipitated by the myopic actions of an HOA Board and ARC committee.
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R & J -
ReplyDeleteYou have our support. We don't want the HOA wasting our money fighting what is, as far as we understand it, Maryland law. Not sure how to do that, though. It seems like such a clear case. Keep us posted. Have you considered a petition?
A&J at 935
Whoever's blog this is should identify himself or herself or explain why secrecy is needed.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was obvious who the Blogger was since all the correspondence on this blog are either addressed to me or from me...
ReplyDeleteA petition sounds good to me as well....along with removal of the Board members who sit on both the ARC and Board. This precludes any homeowner from a fair appeal. The HOA Board members should know this as well as the Management company who is there to advise them of proper HOA procedures.
ReplyDeleteI love this blog. I am a local REALTOR and associate broker with one of the largest and well respected firms in the nation. This is very interesting and I would love to follow this very closely as I am for the "Green Eveloution" and our rights to participate accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked yet not surprised at the foolish actions of the HOA in this case. The use of "Green" energy systems in todays homes increases the values of those homes significantly and while doing so, increases those homes values in the surrounding neighborhood. This is so important to consider especially with the condition of our economy and the current housing crises that exists today.
Based on the letters you have provided, I know my blood would be boiling. Every letter and other corospondance shown here CLEARLY shows that the HOA is interfering where they have no right to, to include the location of the cells. Where do they get off saying that they have such rights. They can't and won't be able to provide such materials. Also, I have spent a few years on the legislative committee for our local board and can tell you as I am sure you are already aware, that intent of what a bill/law had when written has NOTHING to do with what is written in ink. (But this is for a lawyer to tell you not me)
I hope to see the pannels installed, not just for the excitement of another property going "Green", but also to send a message that you have rights and no one has the right to deny you those rights. Just a side note, HOAs are not always bad. They do have their place sometimes, but they ofton lose site of the “Big Picture”. Depending on the environment, HOAs can be a liablility or an asset when it comes to neighborhood property values. In my opinion, I think they should be run by an unbiased 3rd party.
If there is anything I can do to assist, please let me know. Otherwise I will sit back and observe if you don’t mind. Maybe I stop by one day durring a walk and say hi. Yes, I do live in the neighborhood.
To the Realtor...trust me this issue only scratches the surface of this so called "HOA". One could write a book about this HOA's selective enforcement and discriminatory practices. The solar issue is just another example of this Board's inability to grasp simple issues and avoid spending the HOA's monies on legal issues they can not win.
ReplyDelete