In the city of Golden Valley, Minn., a municipal publication from 2005 informs residents that, "The Golden Valley City Council updated the lawn maintenance section of the City Code ... First, the City will no longer send certified letters to residents who violate the lawn ordinance. Second, residents can now cultivate native plants in residential lawns...The new ordinance still bans noxious weeds and requires turf lawns to be maintained at eight-inches or less; however, the City will now use regular U.S. Mail to notify those in violation of the ordinance.

"Property owners will then have seven days to comply before the City mows the vegetation at the property owner's expense."

Heaven help us.

As Augusta City Council members consider a new ordinance to regulate yards and other properties whose owners or tenants are, in a word, slobs, we hope they do not go the way of persnickety Golden Valley.

Or the way of superneat and overly nosy Bolingbroke, Ill., where the municipal Web site informs residents that "The Code Enforcement division also inspects for violations such as tall grass and weeds, accumulation of debris, peeling paint, or structural surfaces in ill repair."

That there are some properties in Augusta that clearly need a haircut and some cosmetic surgery is true. That there are some property owners who evidently don't care that their slovenly landscaping habits are degrading the neighborhood is also a fact. That there are also some property owners who don't share the American obsession with tidy, perfect and monocultural lawns is also a fact.

A community must be allowed to enforce certain basic values related largely to health and safety.

Augusta should tread carefully, however, when it comes to regulating what councilors have taken to calling "slobbery."

In biological terms, every ecosystem needs variety in order to be healthy. In cultural terms, too much conformity is boring.

So while we are generally in agreement that the most egregious forms of property slobbery in Augusta should be controlled, councilors should take care to draft any ordinance as narrowly as reasonable.

Maintaining decent neighborhoods and upholding residents' property values is a laudable goal, so is maintaining an individual's freedom to manage their Back 40 the way they see fit. Finding that balance between community mores and individual freedom will be a challenging task for councilors.