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Lebanon resident urges enforcement after repeated open burning, late-night noise at mobile home park
Summary
A Lebanon resident told the City Council she has repeatedly reported open burning and loud parties at a nearby mobile home park that she says have affected her elderly mother and damaged property; city staff reviewed the local open-burning rules and said enforcement is typically used for habitual violations.
Tina Gilbert, a Lebanon resident who gave her address as 2209 Audrey Lane, told the Lebanon City Council during public comment that repeated open burning and late-night parties at a neighboring mobile home park are creating a public-safety and quality-of-life problem.
"It's a huge nuisance. It's a huge mess," Gilbert said, explaining that smoke, trash blown into her yard and frequent open fires have disrupted her household. She said her 70-year-old mother, who recently moved in to help care for Gilbert's stepfather, who has dementia and Parkinson's disease, should not have to pick up others' trash or be woken by loud music at 3 or 4 a.m.
The complaint came during the council's public comment period and prompted council members and staff to review what the city can do. A city fire-department representative explained the city's rules on open burning: "You can burn from your own property. You can burn tree limbs, grass, leaves, bushes, things of that nature. You cannot burn trash, furniture, finished lumber, anything of that nature." The representative added that while limited yard burning may be allowed (roughly a 3-by-3-foot guideline was cited), the department will extinguish burns that create a nuisance or are unattended.
Council members and staff said enforcement typically escalates only after repeated complaints. The fire-department representative said that, historically, tickets are rarely issued unless the activity is habitual, and that the department had authority to issue citations under recent code changes but had not done so frequently. Council member Jordan said staff would check the city's records to see how many times responders had been dispatched to the address Gilbert provided.
Gilbert said she has contacted park managers and the property owner (she said the managers are from Springfield and the owner is out of state) without success and brought photos to the meeting showing melted siding from past fires. Council members and the mayor said they would look into the complaint and review enforcement options.
Ending: Council members did not vote on a formal enforcement action at the meeting; staff were directed to review prior calls and investigate the complaint further.
