MOORPARK : Homeowner Sued Over Satellite Dish

A Moorpark resident has been sued by his homeowners’ association for installing a satellite dish.

But Robert W. Lowry said he plans to fight the suit filed by the Mountain Meadows Deauville Homeowners Assn. because the group’s rule against outside antennas violates his constitutional rights.

In its suit, the association alleges that Lowry violated a homeowners’ contract by installing a satellite dish in his back yard, said Marsha Jean Moutrie, an attorney for the homeowners’ group and for the subdivision’s developer.

When Lowry bought his home in August, he signed a contract agreeing not to install any outside antennas, Moutrie said.

Lowry said this week that he was unaware of the rule because he didn’t read the 176-page homeowners’ contract when he purchased his $500,000 house.

Lowry said he paid more than $4,000 for the seven-foot dish that is camouflaged as a patio umbrella and whose tan-and-white coloring matches his house.

Lowry said he intends to fight the suit, which was filed last week, on the basis that it violates his right to free speech, which he said guarantees the right to receive radio and television signals.

Lowry said he suspects the rule may violate federal antitrust regulations. Without antennas, Mountain Meadows homeowners are dependent on the local cable company, Mountain Meadows Cablevision, for television reception.