Hampstead council all hung up over clothes line use

Hampstead, like some other Montreal-area suburbs, has for many years forbidden residents to hang their laundry on outdoor lines.

The ban was adopted in response to a prevailing view among some residents that clothes lines are unattractive, or are even characteristic of slums and poverty. The fine for using a clothes line in Hampstead ranges from about $300 upwards.

Six years ago in neighbouring Côte St. Luc, a group of Rosedale Avenue residents complained (to what was then the borough council) that they were unhappy with the sight of laundry hung in back yards near their homes. They demanded that a clothes line ban like Hampstead's be adopted in Côte St. Luc. "It's generally acknowledged that laundry on outside clothes lines is one of the primary characteristics of a slum," Juris Kalnavarns, a spokesman for the group at that time, had said, adding that "aside from matters of aesthetics and appearance, the presence of laundry definitely has a major effect on property values in the neighbourhood."

More recently in several other jurisdictions, environmental concerns and sky-rocketing energy costs are prompting authorities to consider passing so-called "right-to-dry" laws, guaranteeing that clothes lines can be used.

In the U.S., Florida has enacted a state-wide law assuring access to clothes lines and other energy devices attached to buildings or set up on land, when they are based on renewable energy. Vermont considered a "right-to-dry" bill, but it was defeated. In certain parts of Ontario, similar measures are under consideration.

During Hampstead town council's monthly public meeting last week, Rosalie Gordon, a Dufferin Road resident, asked Mayor Steinberg about possible changes affecting Hampstead's clothes line ban, which had been mentioned at the previous council meeting. "We couldn't come to a decision to change the bylaw," Steinberg responded, adding that there weren't enough members of the six-person council who were in favour. "While I personally would agree with you that it is environmentally friendly to hang clothes on a clothes line, to the best of my knowledge no ticket has been given out in many, many years for anyone hanging clothes on a clothes line," he said.

Contradicting Steinberg, Gordon maintained a Hampstead resident was issued several tickets recently for violating the ban. "Public Security told me no tickets were given out in a long time," insisted Steinberg, "so I really don't know what to tell you."

Gordon, acknowledging that she has a clothes line of her own, but that she doesn't use it because she know it is illegal," told Steinberg, "if you can tell me it's legal I will use it and I won't use my dryer as much." "I was told no tickets. I certainly don't think there have been many. I cannot, obviously, tell you to go break the bylaw," he replied. <#Cp>(Martin Barry)<@$p>