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Council continues public hearing on burning ordinance after debate over bonfires, barbecue pits and burn barrels
Summary
Code enforcement presented Ordinance 546 to clarify burning rules and add fire-department red-flag authority; councilors debated exceptions (religious fires, bonfires, barbecue pits), whether to ban burn barrels, and asked staff to rewrite and return on May 27 for council deliberations.
Jacob, the citys code-enforcement officer, summarized proposed changes to the municipal code by removing an overly broad allowance and deferring to specific sections while adding explicit red-flag authority for the fire department.
"We're taking... a portion of code that conflicted with another portion of code regarding burning," Jacob said, explaining the intent to remove Section 8.15.130 and rely on Sections 8.10.10 and 8.10.20 with new fire-department authority to prohibit burning during red-flag conditions. Councilors pressed for definitions for recreational and ceremonial fires and debated whether barbecue pits and burn barrels should be listed as exceptions. One council member urged a clear size limit and proposed importing the fire districts recreational-fire definition (fire area not greater than 3 ft x 3 ft x 2 ft and not within 25 ft of structures). Several councilors expressed a preference to explicitly prohibit burn barrels and asked staff to prepare a redlined ordinance.
After discussion, the public hearing was closed to public comment and continued to May 27 for council-only deliberations; staff will prepare a revised ordinance that incorporates the councils requested clarifications.
