HOAs all over America are restricting the once ubiquitous clothesline. Many HOAs have forbidden the use of outdoor clotheslines for aesthetic reasons, citing unsightliness and lowering of property values. Only three states have limited the ability of HOAs to enforce this restriction. North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines.
Sure enough, I reviewed the CC&R that govern my HOA, and they do restrict the use of outdoor clotheslines. I find this disturbing. The article states that dryers account for 6 percent of household electrical consumption and each dryer can produce a ton of CO2 emissions each year. I often hear talk about energy conservation and reducing greenhouse gases. Yet, if I want to do the socially responsible thing and “go green,” my HOA is allowed to forbid it?
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So I received a reply from the Honorable Ty Harrell, State Representative in the NC General Assembly. He thanked me for my concerns but indicated this was something I’d have to work out with my Home Owners Association. Oh well. I’m still glad I send off the email and hope that when the new legislation is introduced, he reconsiders.
Dear Daniel,
Thank you for taking the time to write about this issue. I hope that you’ll be pleased to learn that Senator Cowell’s original version of SB670 included clotheslines as a solar device. However, because that particular device did not gain sufficient traction, the clothesline section of the bill was removed in order to ensure that SB670 would pass out of committee. While Rep. Suzanne Harvey is an elected official in New Hampshire, Sen. Cowell will certainly look favorably upon NC legislation that her colleagues might introduce that revisits the issue of HOAs allowing clothes drying on clotheslines.
Thanks for your advocacy!
Sherry Johnson
Research Assistant to Senator Janet Cowell