Banned: Lawn Parking, Furniture Placement

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Murfreesboro city leaders are cracking down on residents and the appearance of their homes.

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The City Council voted on Thursday night to ban indoor furniture from being used outdoors and to prohibit residents from parking on lawns.

The indoor furniture ordinance covers sofas, recliners and any other furniture that could be found in a living room.

Violators of the indoor furniture outside ban will be ticketed, officials said.

The Council has also placed a ban on parking on lawns and sidewalks.

Shari Hinton said she sometimes parks her car in her front yard to avoid a traffic jam in her driveway.

“If someone else is trying to get out, it's just a bother, so it's convenient to park on the lawn,” she said.

But this could be a thing of the past in Murfreesboro.

On Thursday night, the Council passed new rules that ban parking cars on lawns and sidewalks.

“A yard is not an appropriate place for a vehicle,” said city representative Chris Shofner.

Along with driveways, Shofner said the city allows street parking, which he said makes parking in yards unnecessary.

He said the city gets many complaints about cars parked in lawns and that the new law targets them.

“What we're really interested in here is properties that have multiple vehicles that park in the yards and create a mudhole,” he said.

He said people who don't follow the rule will have a 10-day grace period, but if they don't move the cars, fines will follow.

Hinton said she will follow the new rules even if she doesn't like them.

“We should be able to park on our grass if it's not bothering anybody. If it's not bothering us, I don't think it should be bothering the city,” she said.

The new law takes effect in 15 days. Shofner said no one has complained about the new rules to the city at this time.