Un-Green Zombies Marching On: Chicago Area Home Owner Association Blocks Solar Panel Installation

A few years ago (ancient history in TreeHugger time) Jeff told us about homeowner associations stopping residents from hanging out clotheslines:- Do Clotheslines Really Lower Property Value?

(If those busy bodies had tried that with my Grandma Marge, God rest her soul, she'd have given them a mouth soaping, or worse.)

Un-Green Zombies, bent on hastily enforcing archaic and arbitrary standards and codes, also have been known to attack gardeners without provocation, as Lloyd reported in his post "City Destroys 10 Year Old Natural Garden."

They can pop up anywhere, anytime. Un-Green Zombies were recently seen marching on some Chicago Illinois area homeowners, for example, drawn to the solar panels. (No nasty naturalized front lawns or outdoor clothes drying involved.) So be prepared.

The Parkmans' application to the Caton Ridge Homeowners Association to install solar panels on the roof of the south side, which is also the front, of their house -- to maximize solar energy collection -- was rejected because the group didn't like the way the panels looked.
"They told us to put them on the north side of the house, which is like telling somebody they can put up a satellite dish, but have to point it at the ground," said Nora.

The shock troops of political correctness have changed stripes. Once the near-exclusive province of "liberals", political correctness increasingly means defending ancient, inefficient architectural standards and arbitrary aesthetics.

There is hope. TreeHugger recommends you read the full Tribune article for examples of how the City of Chicago, proper, is working to streamline building and zoning codes as well as enforcement practices, to make them more "green friendly."

Via::Chicago Tribune, "It's not easy building green, Lack of education, bureaucratic tangles hinder progress" Image credits::Kwazulunatal, Tarquin Mandrake's Green Zombies March On Fight Identity Theft,Green Zombies