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PHOENIX — Roll-backs in how much control homeowner associations have over what goes on in their neighborhoods are among hundreds of new laws adopted by the Legislature that take effect Wednesday.

Perhaps the most sweeping of the changes affecting HOA’s is they can’t keep kids from playing in the street. A law adopted the Legislature this spring says associations cannot have rules banning children who live in the community from being in the street. The law also permits residents to put temporary signs in the middle of private streets controlled by homeowner associations warning motorists that there are children at play.

Lobbyist Mike Williams pushed the bill because of rules enforced by his own homeowners association.

Many developments have no sidewalks at all, meaning children will ride their bikes and play in the streets, Williams said. There is no reason to take away their ability to play near their own homes, and to restrict the ability of the parents to try to get cars to slow down, he said.

That doesn’t mean any parent with a marker and a piece of cardboard can put up a sign. The law says the signs must be “professionally manufactured or produced,” no taller than three feet, can be displayed only in residential areas and have to be removed within an hour after the youngsters are no longer in the street.

Another new law is designed to end efforts by some HOAs to restrict the use of solar energy devices. State law already allows solar devices, ranging from tubes and tanks that heat water to photovoltaic cells that generate electricity.

But lawmakers have heard complaints some HOA rules about size and placement make solar use all but impossible.

This new law does let associations adopt “reasonable rules” about where solar devices can go. But it says these rules are invalid if they effectively bar installation or make a solar unit less efficient or more costly. Another new law says homeowners can, put up “for sale” signs on their own property.

The signs cannot exceed 18 by 24 inches and must be on the person’s property which, in the case of a condominium where the outside is common area, could limit it to the window.