The front porch at 504 Welch Ave. is adorned with typical student appliances: two sticker-covered dorm fridges and a weather-worn blue couch.

That’s Josh Hansen’s porch. His most prominent piece of furniture, however, is his chair— a yellow, crushed velvet ’70s flashback.

All of this will have to go and owner Josh Hansen, junior in political science, said he thinks it will change his Campustown neighborhood for the worse.

Property Maintenance Ordinance No. 3707, dubbed the “couch ordinance,” outlaws any indoor appliances or furniture outside of a house. The only exception is if they are on a porch fully enclosed by glass or screens.

“If the couch is sitting on a porch but behind a screened area, it’s OK,” said Emily Weller, sophomore in art and design. “But if the screen is torn or missing, then you get fined. It’s total crap.”

City officials hope the newly passed couch ordinance will keep neighborhoods looking nice, but some students fear the ban on outdoor couches will disfigure the look and spirit of Campustown.

The ordinance passed through the Ames City Council Tuesday night after a year of debate and much reworking. Originally, the ordinance was to apply only to rental properties. The newly passed version prevents all houses in Ames from having indoor furniture on porches.

Hopefully, the couch ordinance “will improve the appearance of neighborhoods,” said councilwoman Sharon Wirth. “Outdoor couches are a problem because they could give a negative impression to visitors of Ames. Also, rodents could start nesting in furniture that’s been outside for an extended period of time.”

Hansen said he believes the city’s couch ordinance is unfair to students.

“I definitely think the city is overstepping its bounds in this issue,” he said. “Sure, some couches might be an eyesore, but not all couches are junky. Besides, we have porches for a reason — we want to sit on them.”

Couches are the logical choice for outdoor furnishings for college students, Hansen said. They are “cheap and most college kids don’t have a lot of money.”

“We don’t want to stay inside and we can’t afford lawn furniture,” he said. “If we have to replace our couch, we’ll have to replace it with something that’s vastly more expensive. If this ordinance changes the atmosphere of Campustown, it’ll definitely be a change for the worse.”

Weller and Meghan Gehrke, 2613 Hunt St., have two couches in front of their house. The smaller one is weather-stained gray with pastel colors and stuffing coming out the sides. The larger one is dark blue and affectionately named “Cookie Monster.” Both will be gone before July.

Weller said the couch ordinance leaves students with few options for outdoor seating.

“Are we going to buy lawn furniture that someone will steal?” she said. “If we did, we’d have to chain it down. But if someone had a couch on their front porch, no one will mess with it.”

Gehrke, junior in meteorology, said the ordinance reflects the city’s policy of enacting regulations against students based on a small number of complaints from community members.

“Basically, it’s because of two [residents] that were complaining [about couches] on front porches,” Gehrke said. “[The couches] give the neighborhood a college look and the [neighbors] are trying to get us to move away from this neighborhood and out toward Sterling. But this town is based on the college — if it wasn’t for us there wouldn’t be anyone here and there would be nothing to do.”

Gehrke said she understood the city’s efforts to make houses more visually appealing, but it was a futile move in a city like Ames.

“Citizens want the city to look nicer to the general public, but what do you expect from a college town?” she said.