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Found out my county still has a law requiring you to get a permit for a clothesline

I was looking up local ordinances for my backyard project and stumbled on a rule from 1972 that says I need to pay $15 to hang a clothesline in my own yard. Has anyone else run into weird HOA or county rules about basic things like drying laundry outside?
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3 Comments
kim_ramirez3
Laughing at the $15 permit fee like it's some kind of bargain. Fifty bucks for a front yard clothesline in 2019 though, that's rough. Guess they really don't want people looking like they're poor in public.
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gavin228
gavin22826d ago
My neighbor two blocks over got hit with a $50 fine for having a clothesline in his front yard back in 2019. What worked for me was just calling the county clerk's office and asking straight up how often they actually enforce it. They told me it's basically a dead law that nobody checks on unless someone complains. So I put my clothesline in the backyard behind my fence and never had an issue. If you keep it hidden from street view, you'll probably be fine. The $15 permit is just there so the county can pocket money if they catch you, not because they actively patrol for clotheslines.
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cole_flores44
Is it really still 1972 in some places lol? That's wild they'd rather nickel and dime you for a permit than just let people save on their electric bill by hanging clothes. Honestly if you tuck it behind a fence like gavin said, I bet nobody even notices, half those old laws are just there to scare people into paying. The county probably makes more money off the $15 permits from honest folks than they do actually fining anybody.
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