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Sandy council adopts tighter outdoor-burning rules, adds DEQ verification and contained-ring requirement
Summary
The Sandy City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 2025-36 revising Chapter 8.36 of the Sandy Municipal Code to tighten outdoor-burning rules, require contained fire rings for small outdoor pits, and set DEQ daily burn prescriptions as the primary burn-day standard while preserving fire-district authority to restrict burning locally.
The Sandy City Council on a unanimous vote adopted Ordinance 2025-36, updating the city’s regulations on outdoor burning to clarify where and when residents may burn yard debris and to improve public-safety safeguards.
The change, recorded as an amendment to Chapter 8.36 of the Sandy Municipal Code, arose from a council goal to study outdoor-burning rules and followed a September work session and subsequent revisions based on planning-commission feedback. Council members and staff said the amendments reflect five primary edits: revised size/diameter limits for agricultural and backyard burning, new prohibitions on burning on steep slopes, a ban on burning under electrical transmission lines, a requirement that outdoor fire pits be contained in a ring, and reorganizing a subsection for clarity.
City staff told the council they incorporated input from multiple reviewers, including the Clackamas County Fire Marshal, Portland General Electric and the city attorney’s office. PGE recommended a 20-foot clearance from transmission lines; councilors asked for that protection to be explicitly reflected in the code language.
The ordinance also clarifies how daily burn decisions are verified. The adopted language directs residents to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) daily burn prescriptions as the primary source for burn-day guidance while retaining the fire district’s right to prohibit burning locally if conditions warrant. Staff said the code will require verifying daily burn restrictions with DEQ and the fire district and that the first response to a violation would be educational rather than punitive.
Councilors asked staff to circulate a news release and post the updated code on the city website after clerical edits. The ordinance passed after a first- and second-reading vote during the meeting and is now adopted.
What’s next: staff will publish the final ordinance language and update the city’s public materials to reflect the new rules and linked DEQ resources.
