home in the up-and-coming Coral Ridge neighborhood because it leaves her clothes fresh and wrinkle-free.
But across the street, a contractor building multimillion dollar homes saw her wet clothes and cringed.I'm sure if you bought a $3 million house and your neighbor across the street has purple panties flying in plain visibility, you wouldn't want her doing that," said Robert Strauss of Floridian Estate Builders.
Strauss' complaint to the Fort Lauderdale Code Enforcement Department landed Madden in front of Judge Zebedee Wright in the Broward County Courthouse on Thursday morning to explain for the second time in four years why she wasn't obeying an ordinance that demands clotheslines be tucked away in the back yard.
Madden's laundry plight also gained her national support. After an Internet search, she found support from Project Laundry List, an organization that educates people about line drying and other energy-conserving methods.
"There are thousands of people who aren't allowed to hang out their clothes," Project Executive Director Alexander Lee said from his New Hampshire office. He noted that in Florida, line-drying rights are protected under a solar rights law that prohibits local ordinances from restricting clotheslines and other solar devices.
Madden's victory came swiftly on Thursday.
After five minutes, the case was dropped for the same reason it was dropped four years ago.
Madden keeps her umbrella-shaped clothesline on the west side of her house on Northeast 26th Place next to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Putting her clothesline in the back yard was not only going to annoy neighbors, it would also put her wet clothes on display for passing boaters.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...ay21,0,4582167.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
But across the street, a contractor building multimillion dollar homes saw her wet clothes and cringed.I'm sure if you bought a $3 million house and your neighbor across the street has purple panties flying in plain visibility, you wouldn't want her doing that," said Robert Strauss of Floridian Estate Builders.
Strauss' complaint to the Fort Lauderdale Code Enforcement Department landed Madden in front of Judge Zebedee Wright in the Broward County Courthouse on Thursday morning to explain for the second time in four years why she wasn't obeying an ordinance that demands clotheslines be tucked away in the back yard.
Madden's laundry plight also gained her national support. After an Internet search, she found support from Project Laundry List, an organization that educates people about line drying and other energy-conserving methods.
"There are thousands of people who aren't allowed to hang out their clothes," Project Executive Director Alexander Lee said from his New Hampshire office. He noted that in Florida, line-drying rights are protected under a solar rights law that prohibits local ordinances from restricting clotheslines and other solar devices.
Madden's victory came swiftly on Thursday.
After five minutes, the case was dropped for the same reason it was dropped four years ago.
Madden keeps her umbrella-shaped clothesline on the west side of her house on Northeast 26th Place next to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Putting her clothesline in the back yard was not only going to annoy neighbors, it would also put her wet clothes on display for passing boaters.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...ay21,0,4582167.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines