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Residents press Riverwoods trustees for clearer burn rules and quicker enforcement
Summary
Multiple residents urged the board for faster action to address persistent smoke and unsafe burning; trustees and staff described ongoing steps including property visits, citation authority under nuisance rules and plans to meet with fire officials before proposing ordinance changes.
Several residents addressed the Board of Trustees during public comment and the community-question portion of the meeting to press for action on recurring open burning that they described as producing long-lasting smoke and creating health and safety concerns.
Resident Meg Wellewsky said a petition and multiple emails submitted about seven months earlier had produced little perceived progress and asked for a timeline for the village to present a proposed change to the burn ordinance. "It doesn't seem to be enough urgency from our perspective, to see a little bit more movement towards a resolution that is going to help us feel safe, and healthy," she said.
Officials described steps already under way: the village has a work plan that includes a meeting with the fire department to review firefighting plans for potential burning incidents and a mapping exercise to identify allowable set-back areas on individual properties. The village director and Director Witt (spelled in the transcript variously) said staff planned to visit the specific property at issue, deliver permit and regulation information, and ask the occupant to meet with staff. The attorney and staff said current rules allow smoke to be a violation of the nuisance ordinance and that officers can collect information and the director can issue citations; staff acknowledged enforcement is time-consuming.
When asked whether officers will put out fires that violate setbacks or involve non-yard waste, staff said they would direct the person to extinguish the fire and, where appropriate, contact the fire department. "If it's burning things that aren't yard waste, or if it's in the setbacks, or less than 50 feet from a structure, they will be asked to put it out," a staff member said.
Trustees said they planned further action. The village president and staff said the item would be placed on the agenda in March for further consideration and that they would pursue a site visit and direct outreach to the property owner in the meantime.
What residents should know: The village says existing nuisance and burn rules provide enforcement paths (citations and orders to extinguish), staff will pursue a door-knock and permit review with the property owner, and the village intends to present a compromise ordinance amendment for trustee consideration in a coming meeting.
