The Ames saga of the sofa ordinance has, for lack of a better expression, become couched in semantics.

Despite Mayor Ted Tedesco’s veto earlier this year, some Ames residents and their council members continue to argue over issues of great civic importance: What genre of furniture is acceptable for lawn use, how porches with torn screens or no screens at all may be a threat to furniture aesthetics, and whether owners should really be responsible for the appearance of their property.

While previous couch ordinances — that is, the legal ban of indoor furniture escaping into the wilds of a collegiate front lawn — were struck down due to an unfair onus placed on renters, the current proposal may just pass. The apparent epidemic of burnt orange and avocado sofas arriving in Ames front lawns after several incarnations in basements, Goodwill stores and circa-1970’s d‚cor is a “blight” and a “health hazard” to our fair community, according to the Ames residents who are pushing for the ordinance.

The current couch ordinance would hold owners and renters equally accountable for menacing davenports in front lawns.

The rationale behind the new law would be to prevent divans from going ablaze, as happened during the Veishea riots many years ago. Renters and the property owners would be fined in increasing amounts for littering lawns with loveseats, thus bringing the law to bear equally on both parties.

Several aspects of the couch ordinance are just plain silly.

First, it attempts to legislate a solution so neighbors do not have to approach one another and negotiate a compromise.

Second, the ordinance will be another nail in the coffin of reasonable rents, as property owners will raise rents to absorb the risk incurred by renting to college students, covering themselves in case of couch fines.

Third, the ordinance has become an issue in an era of mild Veishea celebrations, begging the question that the City Council may perhaps have more relevant matters to consider in governing a city of 50,000.

Finally, the ordinance is up for a vote when college students are packing up and getting out for the holiday breaks, thus strategically minimizing complaints from the targets of this ordinance.

The couch ordinance is excessive law. If it passes, beware of the hide-a-bed Gestapo.

The Ames City Council has more pressing considerations than to continue to reincarnate the couch ordinance and inflate the perceived nuisance of sofas run amok in the yards of Ames.

Editorial Board:Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie Weaver, Rachel Faber Machacha.