An ordinance amendment that would have prohibited the use of outdoor wood-burning furnaces in the summer was voted down Tuesday by the Oshtemo Township Board of Trustees.
The township has issued nine permits for wood burners, Supervisor Elizabeth Heiny-Cogswell said. The ordinance amendment, which would have prohibited the use of the furnaces April 30 through Oct. 1, was prompted by multiple complaints over several years regarding one particular wood burner.
“It’s reasonable to expect to be able to enjoy your outdoor yard in the summer time, in the spring and in the fall,” said Trustee Lee Larson, who made a motion to amend the ordinance. “You have a reasonable expectation of comfort in your home property.”
Township Treasurer Nancy Culp said she lives about a half-mile from the resident in question, who she said uses the burner all summer to heat an outdoor swimming pool, and can smell the smoke at her house. Yet she sided with the majority that said the amendment would unfairly punish all outdoor wood-burner owners for one resident’s choices.
One audience member pointed out that he often needs to use his furnace in May to heat his home.
Township Attorney James Porter said it is difficult to revoke burn permits under the nuisance clause. The courts have defined a nuisance as something that is offensive to a normal sensibility, and proving that subjective evaluation is difficult, Porter said.
“I have struggled with this,” Culp said. “I’m going to vote no because it affects everybody else that has wood furnaces. If it’s cold in May, they’re going to need heat, and this is going to stop them from being able to burn, versus this neighbour burning all the time. … We need to think of something different [to address this situation]. It is quite a nuisance in the neighbourhood. It does smell quite bad. But I’m going to have to vote no.”
The vote to prohibit summer use of outdoor wood furnaces failed, 4-3.
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