Before Lawrence City Commissioners leap to override housing covenants that require wood-shingled roofs, maybe they should look carefully at just how much of a hazard the roofs pose.

Does the number of fires involving shake shingles justify overriding the rights of people who bought houses in developments covered by certain construction covenants? These homeowners bought their houses with the assurance that they would be surrounded by other homes with aesthetically pleasing wood-shingled roofs. If homeowners became convinced that the increased fire threat was serious, they might band together on their own to change the covenant requiring wood roofs, but the city has no reason to get involved unless the number of fires involved is putting an undue burden on firefighters.

Perhaps the greatest threat to wood roofs came from fireworks, and the city already has dealt with that issue. In how many cases have wood shingles actually contributed to a house fire or the spread of a fire to another structure in the last five or 10 years?

A representative of a local real estate firm said many developers are moving away from wood shingles because they are more difficult to maintain in this part of the country. That’s fine. Maybe homeowners in areas covered by wood-shingle covenants will decide they want to trade aesthetics for easy maintenance and a reduced fire threat, but that decision should be left to the homeowners, not turned over to the city.

The homeowner who is asking the city to pass an ordinance that would allow him to ignore his neighborhood’s covenant and install a non-wood roof is focusing his argument on increased safety. But he might also be seeking to save money on his roof replacement costs and perhaps on his homeowner’s insurance. That’s understandable, but allowing people to break housing covenants primarily because they want to save money would be a bad precedent to set.

Home buyers are, or should be, aware of all the restrictive covenants that affect their property. When they buy a property, they agree to abide by those covenants. The obvious way to get out from under those requirements is to move to an area where the objectionable covenants don’t exist.

If wood shingles were bursting into flames all over town, city commissioners might have a reason to get involved with this issue. However, without some evidence that the roofs pose a serious community threat, commissioners should leave this matter to the homeowners involved.