Board adopts rewritten open‑burning ordinance, expands fire marshal authority and public notification

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors adopted an updated open‑air burning ordinance after a lengthy staff presentation, line‑by‑line board review and public comment.

The county fire marshal’s office presented the draft ordinance as a rewrite that consolidates recreational burning rules, clarifies the definition of structures and buildings using state‑code definitions, strengthens the fire marshal’s authority to ban burning on high‑risk days and establishes a public map (the MOBE) to show active permitted burns. Fire marshal Maddox told the board the draft also narrows ambiguous categories, adds a repeat‑offender enforcement window and removes a mandatory escalating fine scheme so prosecutors and judges retain discretion in penalty decisions.

Board members pressed staff on clarity in exemptions for recreational fires, how the ordinance treats campfires and yard trimmings, and the practicality of notifying adjacent property owners. Supervisor Mike Pruitt expressed drafting concerns where recreational‑fire language appears simultaneously in an exemption and in prescriptive text; county attorneys and the fire marshal said the intent is to allow the county to apply a stricter, local standard where the state code otherwise governs. Staff agreed to adjust draft language so exempted categories are not internally contradictory and to mirror phrasing across related subsections for clarity.

The MOBE notification tool, now publicly available on the county website, drew praise and further questions about advanced notice to neighbors. Staff explained the practical constraints: the emergency communications center logs a burn and places it on the map at the time of notification, but it is not yet feasible to auto‑notify every adjacent property automatically without burdensome manual steps or tying into an emergency‑notification subscription process. Supervisors urged staff to make the MOBE link more prominent and to prepare straightforward public materials explaining what residents must do to notify ECC and how the map works.

Several residents urged stronger prohibitions and mandatory penalties; others supported retaining flexibility for education and first‑time warnings. At the end of the hearing the board moved and approved an amended ordinance (motion language provided by the county attorney) to add clarifying language in section 6‑406(b), to identify section 6‑407 in the recitals, and to direct staff to prepare public outreach materials explaining definitions and notification procedures.

The ordinance will take effect following the county’s standard adoption process; staff said they will publish plain‑language guidance and improve the MOBE link placement on the fire‑rescue web pages. The board did not adopt a year‑round 4 p.m. burn ban; staff noted state precedents and enforcement challenges and said that measure would require different statutory treatment and further study.