Today at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, the Starkville Board of Aldermen will meet to discuss a proposed new ordinance that will, among other things, ban couches and other indoor furniture from being placed outdoors. This ordinance, the brainchild of the three-member Mayor’s Beautification Committee, seems to single out college students unfairly.
The main part of the ordinance prohibits “upholstered furniture or furniture not specifically manufactured for outdoor use,” including couches, recliners, coffee tables and end tables, from any front yard, side yard or any rear yard adjacent to a street and from outdoor balconies. The ordinance does not address the fact that often outdoor furniture is upholstered, or that some furniture is labeled for “indoor/outdoor” use. The ordinance also prohibits such furniture from any porch that is not “fully enclosed,” determining “fully enclosed” as “cannot be accessed from outside except through a door that can be locked.”
Another section of the ordinance forbids laundry from being hung on any fence, porch or clothesline unless it is hung in the rear yard and shielded from any road by a fence, wall or landscaping with “a minimum 90 percent opacity screen at least six feet in height.” As many apartment complexes in Starkville have neither dryers nor the properly opaque barriers, this ordinance hangs those residents out to dry in place of their laundry.
In addition, the ordinance places strict limits on advertising and directional signs for garage sales. Under the ordinance, anyone who wants to have a garage sale will have to apply for a permit 48 hours in advance. Only one small sign will be allowed on most properties, and no directional or off-site signs will be allowed. The only way anyone will know the garage sale is even happening is if they happen to check the Starkville city Web site. These new rules even apply to charity garage sales.
What the Mayor’s Beautification Committee and the supporters of this ordinance don’t seem to grasp is that Starkville is a college town. The university, with its students, professors and staff, is responsible for a large percentage of the business and sales tax revenue in the city, and with these benefits comes a certain culture associated with indoor furniture outdoors.
When you move into an area with many students like the Cotton District, you know what you’re moving into. If you don’t like seeing couches on porches and balconies, you should instead move into one of the several areas with landlords or restrictive covenants that do not allow them.
By allowing neighborhoods and landlords to set their own rules and covenants, every resident gets a choice of what type of area they want to live in. Students who want to kick back comfortably on their balconies can live in the Cotton District, and other people who do not want to encounter that can choose a different area to live. The city government does not have a legitimate interest in making a sweeping rule for all the different groups of people who live in the Starkville.
We commend the Board of Aldermen for projects that have helped residents and beautified the city. This ordinance, however, is unnecessary micromanagement that singles out college students and will destroy an essential part of college culture. We call upon the Board of Aldermen to vote against the ordinance and upon students and residents to attend the meeting tonight to let their voices be heard.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Harry Nelson, news editor Kyle Wrather, assistant news editor April Windham, sports editor Justin Ammon, entertainment editor Bailey Singletary, photo editor Bud Sorey, copy editors Josh Starr and Dee Works, online editor Adam Kazery, managing editor Aubra Whitten and editor in chief Carl Smith.