The Starkville Board of Aldermen met Tuesday for a second public hearing over a proposed city ordinance which would ban couches and other indoor furniture from porches and yards. The ordinance also addresses garage and yard sales, outdoor storage structures, firewood storage and clotheslines.Additionally, the board held the first public hearing for a proposed sidewalk ordinance and voted to deny the rezoning of a Ward 3 area southeast of the intersection of Yellow Jacket and Eckford Drives.
The furniture ordinance, proposed by the Mayor’s Beautification Committee, includes standards for outdoor furniture and regulations for outside storage facilities and garage sale limitations. In accordance with the proposal, porches with indoor furniture would have to be screened in and have a locking door. Garage sale permits would be issued to citizens, with garage sales lasting no longer than four days. Additionally, no more than two signs promoting the sale could be posted. Firewood would have to be stacked neatly and put out sight, and clotheslines could not be visible from any area of the neighboring street.
While City Planner Ben Griffith said the ordinance’s intent is to beautify the city, several citizens disagreed with some of the ordinance’s specifications, including MSU student Ry Lewis. A senior electrical engineering major, Lewis said he lives on University Drive in the Cotton District in a house with a porch containing two couches, two love seats and an end table. Under the proposed ordinance, all indoor furniture – like love seats, couches and end tables – would not be allowed on porches or in yards.
Lewis said studies show couches and other porch furniture do not prove to be fire hazards; additionally, having furniture on porches encourages people to stay outside, thus keeping a lookout around the neighborhood.
Lewis, who passed out packets with photos of furniture-covered porches to the aldermen, said his porch is an enjoyable gathering place for both he and his friends daily.
“It’s our little slice of heaven,” he said.
Beautification is something Lewis said he supports, but he does not think couches and furniture on porches are eyesores.
“It’s a matter of opinion,” he said. “I don’t believe it’s a place for the government to decide.”
Richard Mullenax, co-chair of the beautification committee, responded to Lewis’s comments by saying furniture on porches and yards is trashy, acknowledging that some porches – like Lewis’s – look nicer than others.
“If everything looked like yours, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Mullenax said. “Unfortunately, they don’t.”
Mullenax said University Drive is one of the most popular areas of the city and thus should look better than other places around town.
“University Drive should be the nicest looking street in town, but in some places, it looks like a slum,” he said.
Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey expressed concern over the ordinance’s permit requirement for garage sales, saying it could be difficult to get citizens to understand the process and advertising the event could be difficult with signage restrictions.
Ward 3 Alderman P.C. “Mac” McLaurin said he thinks the ordinance is slightly over the top but not unconstitutional. McLaurin moved to table the issue and no statement was issued on when the ordinance might be readdressed.
The board also held the first public hearing on a sidewalk ordinance, which, if passed, would help Starkville become more up-to-date with the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, promote pedestrian access and implement sidewalks in newly constructed areas.
McLaurin said such an ordinance is long overdue for the city, and said he thinks the ordinance could be further improved and expanded. After a brief discussion and several citizen comments and questions, Mayor Dan Camp closed the first hearing.