Outdoor sofa ban mimics others in college towns

Lincoln has been a part of a fraternity of towns banning upholstered furniture on porches since Oct. 7, when the law went into effect.

But there is more than just the ban on couches that links these towns together, and that link may have something to do with why the ban was created in the first place.

Lincoln, along with Ames, Iowa; Boulder, Colo.; and East Lansing and Ann Arbor, Mich., are just a few of the towns scattered across the country to have both large state colleges and bans on indoor couches outside.

John Boies, chief housing inspector with the Building and Safety Department, said as of Tuesday, 43 complaints had been filed.

The Lincoln Building and Safety Department is in charge of enforcing the ban.

"We had a flurry of calls at first," Boies said of the ban. "We are still receiving (calls) daily; we had four (on Tuesday)."

Before the ban is enforced, someone has to file a complaint about a couch on a porch. After a complaint has been filed, Boies said an investigator from the Building and Safety Department will drive to the house and check to see if the couch is in violation of the ordinance.

If the couch violates the rules, a notice is sent to the owner and they have a "reasonable amount of time" to remove the couch. If they fail, the department hands the case over to the city prosecutor who could file misdemeanor charges against the couch owner.

The amount of time a person has to remove a couch before being charged is not specified in the ordinance, Boies said.

"Right now we're starting with two weeks," he said.

If someone is charged for having an indoor couch outside, they can be charged $200 for a first offense, $250 for a second offense, and $300 and up to six months in jail for a third offense.

Boies said more than half of the complaints filed thus far have been about homes in the neighborhood northeast of 27th and Vine St. near Dudley and Orchard streets.

Unlike the Lincoln couch ban ordinance, in Ames, Iowa the police enforce the ban loosely.

"I've never written a citation and neither has another officer I just asked," said Harry Samms, community resource officer for the Ames police department. Ames' ban has been in effect since 2003, but no one has received a citation for it this year.

In Ames, the police can write someone a citation when someone files a complaint, or if a police officer spots an infraction.

Although the citation prohibits upholstered furniture from porches all over the city, most of the time the ban is brought up when police are called to a house for another disturbance, such as a party.

Samms said a warning is all it typically takes to keep houses in line with the ordinance.

"(A ticket) is a heck of a thing to drop on someone," he said.

ryanboetel@dailynebraskan.com