Some homeowner associations deterring green efforts

Homeowners who are trying to be more environmentally friendly are finding some of their efforts are being considered not so neighbor friendly by surrounding residents and homeowner associations. Simple conservation efforts such as installing rain barrels and hanging clothes on outdoor clotheslines are being frowned upon by some neighbors. Installation of solar panels and wind turbines, which are being encouraged with federal and state tax incentives, are running into roadblocks because of homeowner association regulations.

The Baltimore Sun reports that while some of this opposition is related to safety and security, a lot has to do with aesthetics. Alexander Lee, executive director of the Project Laundry List, a non-profit organization that promotes air drying and cold water washing, told the newspaper that although some people consider air drying to be something done only by poor people, it is becoming an eco-chic activity. Some states, including Florida, Maine, Vermont and Hawaii, have passed legislation requiring homeowner associations to allow the use of clotheslines. Similar legislation in Maryland, Virginia, Oregon and New Hampshire has failed.

USA Today reports that these new laws are considered intrusive by some associations, whose officials and members feel these decisions should be made by local association boards. Bruce Benton, an association board member of a Tamarac subdivision in Horse Shoe, N.C., told the newspaper that the recession has caused property values to decline and they could drop even more if residents have to watch someone’s drawers blowing in the wind.

A 2001 report by the U.S. Department of Energy indicated that nearly 6 percent of home electricity goes to operate clothes dryers.