Lincoln council reviews new open-burning and fire‑pit rules, refers both ordinances for legal redrafting

Lincoln’s council examined two proposed ordinances aimed at tightening rules for open burning and residential fire pits and voted to send both measures to the solicitor for drafting and editing.

The council’s administrator-level presenter said the open‑burning ordinance (2025‑17) was rewritten to bring permit authority into a uniform townwide process and to show operational guidance on the town’s OpenGov website. "Burn permits is being handled at the local level within the individual fire districts," the presenter said, adding the town will use the website for an educational summary of the ordinance and to collect permit requests.

Why it matters: Staff framed the rewrite as an effort to reduce confusion across fire districts, align the town with NFPA standards and make clear when, where and how large burns can happen. Under the draft rules discussed, open burning would be limited to landowners with a minimum of about one acre, allowed between Jan. 1 and Apr. 30, and restricted to daytime hours (about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). The presenter also said permit requests will be routed through the town website to the fire chief for approval and that the process will generally require a lead time of five days.

Council members pressed staff on several practical points, including whether leaves would be permitted (staff responded leaves are prohibited for open burns), how ceremonial or powwow fires are handled, and how to reconcile existing district practices. "The ordinance language, you can see what we're capturing... we'll probably give over to the... town website social media just to kinda simplify some legal ease of catching ordinances that can be a little confusing," the presenter said.

The council also discussed a separate fire‑pit ordinance (2025‑18) that would govern residential fire pits. Members questioned a proposed 20‑foot setback from combustible materials and whether older installed fireplaces would be grandfathered. Chief Fisher — introduced earlier in the meeting and speaking for the Lincoln fire district — said installers and existing structures often present different safety profiles and that the fire chief would retain discretion. "As long as you have water available that's far enough away from property lines..." Chief Fisher said in describing considerations he uses when responding to complaints.

Outcome and next steps: After discussion, the council voted to refer both drafts to the solicitor for technical revisions, cross‑reference corrections and placement in proper ordinance form; both referrals passed by voice votes. Staff said they will update citations (for example, correcting outdated year references) and return the refined ordinances for review at a later meeting.

What remains unclear: The ordinances discussed set policy direction but lacked final textual refinements. The solicitor will need to confirm precise statutory cross‑references, clean up numbering (several speakers noted mistaken section references), and decide whether to codify website guidance language or keep it as an administrative summary. Enforcement procedures and exact grandfathering language for existing fire pits were discussed but not finalized.

Next procedural step: Both ordinances were referred to the town solicitor for amendment and review and are expected back for council consideration next month.