ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: My subdivision has a covenant that says no one can have a "for sale" sign in the yard if the house is up for sale. Didn't the Supreme Court say about six months ago that such covenants are illegal?
J.W., Hardy
A: Perhaps the case you're thinking of involved a Wintergreen property owner in Nelson County. The court upheld that covenant last September, however.
This was the most recent Virginia Supreme Court case involving restrictive covenants, according to Michael Smeltzer, a real estate lawyer at Woods Rogers & Hazlegrove PLC.
The restrictions prevailed at Wintergreen, where resident Norton Bowman sued the property owners' association when it asked him to remove certain items from his yard, including signs.
Among the items were three cow skulls, two pairs of cow horns and three neon signs reading "Aspen," "Key West" and "Margaritaville."
The decorative scheme for Bowman's yard and deck included 35 more articles, two of them pink flamingos.
Wintergreen property owners know before they buy that the covenant restricts signs, including "for sale" signs, and that the association can refuse displays purely on aesthetic conditions.
The court didn't buy Bowman's argument that his signs were neon art. It ordered him to pay $30 in damages.
Smeltzer said courts for years have ruled that covenants are enforceable as long as they are written correctly, don't equivocate and are not ambiguous.
Where the heck is Bill Meck?
For those of you who asked "What the heck became of Bill Meck," the former WSLS (Channel 10) weather broadcaster is on WTHR (Channel 13) in Indianapolis.
Meck started in January as the weekend meteorologist and chief fill-in for the NBC affiliate's veteran weatherman.
It's the same job Meck wanted when he asked out of his contract at Channel 10 in January 1995. Channel 10 held Meck to the contract until last August, when his multiple requests for release finally were granted.
Though it took a year to get the job, Meck said it was "definitely worth waiting for."
Indianapolis ranks 25th among the nation's TV markets, with almost 1 million households. Roanoke-Lynchburg is the No.67 market, with almost 400,000.
Meck continues to provide weather forecasts for K92 radio in Roanoke by telephone hookup. Between August and January, Meck did some free-lance weather broadcasting for stations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Meck came to Roanoke in August 1992 riding a high-profile promotional campaign by WSLS asking "Who the heck is Bill Meck?'' He became one of the region's best-known television personalities.
Meck and his wife, Connie, are officially moving out of Roanoke this week to a house in Indianapolis.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RayRRoanoke.Infi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.|
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB