[§196-8.5]  Placement of clotheslines.  (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no person shall be prevented by any covenant, declaration, bylaws, restriction, deed, lease, term, provision, condition, codicil, contract, or similar binding agreement, however worded, from installing a clothesline on any single-family residential dwelling or townhouse that the person owns.  Any provision in any lease, instrument, or contract contrary to the intent of this section shall be void and unenforceable.
     (b)  Every private entity may adopt rules that reasonably restrict the placement and use of clotheslines for the purpose of drying clothes on the premises of any single-family residential dwelling or townhouse; provided that those restrictions do not prohibit the use of clotheslines altogether.  No private entity shall assess or charge any homeowner any fees for the placement of any clothesline.
     (c)  For the purposes of this section:
     "Clothesline" means a rope, cord, wire, or similar device on which laundry is hung to dry.
     "Private entity" means any association of homeowners, community association, condominium association, cooperative, or any other nongovernmental entity with covenants, bylaws, and administrative provisions with which the homeowner's compliance is required. [L 2009, c 192, §2]