Clothlines behind houses

Started by RafaelM • 19 replies • 2585 views

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RafaelM (Florida)
Posts: 2

Posted:

I am a resident of Florida, I was reading the HOA booklet for my association which states that clothlines are prohibited. I did a search in the internet and I found out that is not true. Clothlines followed under the same category as Solar panels for water heating. This article also said that HOAs can't prohibited them. My question is where can I find a good answer to this question?

Thank you,

RafaelM

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Well, why not start with the source you found on the internet? Is it an "official" report or just someone's wishful thinking? Can you quote or give a web address for your information? This is quite interesting.
Harold

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

If your CC&R's prohibit clothes lines, then that is what they mean, and they can prohibit them.

Solar panels for water heating is completely different from clothes lines which are for the purpose of hanging clothes out to dry.

Anyone using clothes lines will be in violation unless the state law specifically states that regardless of what the CC&R's say, a homeowner may have a clothes line.

WilliamS1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 113

Posted:

Rafae -

They are also prohibited in our community as well, not because they are against the law of the state or township, but because the collective group of homeowners don't want to see clothes lines.

I know that personally, now days especially, clothes lines to me are tacky. We had a clothes line when I was a child but things have changed and I don't care to see others clothes and undergarments out in the wind.

Take Care
William

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Rafael - you are in Florida and it seems you can now install clothes lines in spite of what your documents say. Here is a quote from the statues: " No deed restrictions, covenants, or similar binding agreements running with the land shall prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices..." (see Title XI, Chapter 163.04)
California just passed and the Gov signed a major solar bill.
There is a growing consensus for saving energy, and drying clothes on an outside line is definitely conserving energy. It probably won't be long before other states, if not already, pass laws similar to the one in Florida. Harold

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

Harold has it. State Law trumps HOA rules....

JanM (Texas)
Posts: 142

Posted:

My in-laws live in Fl and their neighborhood "outlawed" clotheslines, but my mother-in-law, being Sicilian, insisted on one. They surrounded their clothesline with lattice and planted grapevines on it to hide the sheets blowing in the wind! No one said a word.

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Well Jan - Since Florida statues now allow clotheslines your inlaws are no longer outlaws and can remove the screen hiding their laundry. I am surprised tho that their screen didn't generate some other violation. Harold

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

While the FL law permits clothes lines, the board may still be able to regulate where they are located, if they should be screened, the height, etc. So it may be a good idea to leave the screens as they are for now.

Just as in AZ flag poles and flags are permitted by law, the HOA's can still regulate the size and placement of the poles.

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

William - not wanting to get into a long drawn out discussion, but here is the Florida law in its entirety: http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0163/SEC04.HTM&Title=->2002->Ch0163->Section%2004
You will note that it allows the "entity" (an HOA) to control the location of solar collectors as long as the orientation for correct collection remains, but no where does it mention giving the "entity" power to control the location of clotheslines. Maybe an oversight, but nevertheless not addressed. But I'm wondering what the point would be for the legislature to specifically address and grant permission to have a clothesline but then allow the HOA to require it be invisible. Harold

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Harold, I interpret "allows the "entity" (an HOA) to control the location of solar collectors as long as the orientation for correct collection remains" to state that the HOA can control as quoted.

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

I believe the HOA would be able to control where the lines are placed, just as they can control the flag poles.

As an example it wouldn't look very good for the community if people put clothes lines in the front yard. Or in the case of a lake community where the back yard is on the lake and equally important as the front, then they may be able to require that the lines be placed on either side of the house, providing there is sufficient sun.

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Roger - I don't know what you mean by: "to state that the HOA can control as quoted." Control what as quoted? The statue was talking about controlling placement of solar collectors. Where do you read control of clotheslines in that statue? And again, why would the legislature feel it necessary to legislatively permit clotheslines if they were also allowing the HOAs to require they be placed out of sight?
William - This legislation doesn't sound to me like "You are permitted to have a clothesline as long as it doesn't interfere with a view, your neighbors, etc. Where are you getting that interpretation? I don't know about Florida, but here in Arizona many new homes don't even have a side yard, and wouldn't that offend those neighbors anyway? And then you have the two story homes that could see a clothesline anywhere you put it- so does that trump the Florida legislation? The even newer homes I see being built today MIGHT have enough room in the back for one long clothesline if you walked sideways. But we aren't talking about Arizona. Harold

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

Harold,

I'm not giving an interpretation at all. I'm only providing a personal opinion.

LuciusD
Posts: 139

Posted:

Clotheslines! What a wonderful idea!
It brightens my whole day just to imagine thousands of Florida HOA's going totally nuts over clotheslines and other sorts of outdoors laundry dryers.

RafaelM (Florida)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Thank you HaroldS, I knew that they can't prohibited, but I didn't know what was the law. Also, for everybody's knowledge there are two cases called "The right to Dry" & "Neighborhood rules on the line" check this website www.laundrylist.org under newsroom is a very informative website about this issue.

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Interesting site Rafael! There is an advocate group for everything! Maybe Arizona will soon follow Florida's lead and allow clotheslines. We certainly have lots of that renewable energy available. I read somewhere that clothes dryers are 6% of a home's energy use. That's a lot of energy that can be saved simply by hanging clothes out to dry. It makes your clothes smell nice too. Harold

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

I'm all for saving energy, and my wife and I do our part, both for the sake of energy and for our own money savings.

I have no objections to clothes lines if they are not in the front yard. And in our case, also not in the back yard.

Thats because we live on a lake and our back yards are more important than the front yards because boats cruise the lake at a maximum of 5 mph to enjoy the scenery and wave to neighbors. The scenery would not be so pleasant if everyone had lines full of clothes, and it wouldn't help to keep our property values up.

Our side lot lines are 5 feet from the house, and that's plenty to have a clothes line.

Flag poles and multiple flags are allowed by law, ARS 33-1808 and the law allows HOA's to adopt reasonable rules regarding placement and manner of display, and of the location and size of a flagpole.

I would hope that if an energy conservation law is adopted here that they will use the same sensible approach to allow HOA's to regulated the location and size of clotheslines as they did for flags and flagpoles.

DianeW (Maryland)
Posts: 147

Posted:

I love to see clothes hanging on the line. It means clean and fresh smelling to me. I'm glad I can ask my husband to put up poles for me to do this. Brings back memories of my childhood and brings a smile to my face

KennethL (Florida)
Posts: 1

Posted:

As a new resident in southwest Forida, coping with the dirty air and black dust that accumulates
on the screened pool deck,
I would be surprised if dirt doesn't also accumulate on wet clothes hung
outside to dry.

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