Powell River’s fire chief has recommended that City of Powell River council ban open burning, except for three specific reasons.
Dan Ouellette, director of fire and emergency services, recommended that the only exceptions to an open burning ban should be fires on properties zoned agricultural, recreation fires, such as campfires, and special event fires. Currently, open burning is permitted in April and November, with a permit.
Agricultural fires would be restricted to properties with a minimum lot size of one hectare and burning would be allowed in April and November. There is a proposed agricultural fire permit fee of $60 a year. The proposed fee for special event fires is $25 per event. No permits or fees are being proposed for recreational fires.
Ouellette said that he believes the provincial government is going to bring in changes to open burning regulations. He said a BC Forest Service enforcement officer told him recently that essentially, “if communities don’t stop their open burning, the government will do it for them.”
Stan Westby, the city’s chief administrative officer, reported that the provincial government had published an intentions paper and public comment on it had been closed. “Their primary objective was to reduce, or minimize, the impacts to human health,” he said. “Obviously, they’re intending to reduce burning quite significantly, at the same time that we’re opening up our burning regulations.”
The trend in other communities is away from allowing open burning, Ouellette pointed out. However, most communities have other programs in place, such as composting and curbside pickup of yard waste, he added.
Mayor Stewart Alsgard pointed out that smoke knows no boundaries and there are no restrictions on open burning in rural areas of the Powell River Regional District. He suggested city directors on the regional board could bring the issue up with rural directors.
Councillor Debbie Dee, one of the city directors, reported that the regional district is exploring a regional composting facility. Councillor Chris McNaughton, the other city director, said the city and the regional district need to coordinate their efforts. “Regardless of which way we go, we should be acknowledging that curbside pickup a few times a year for yard waste is absolutely critical on a go-forward basis,” he said. “We need to resolve the issue and staff can do that, with the regional government, to eliminate the tipping fees for that.”
In the end, councillors agreed to postpone consideration of the draft bylaw and refer the issue to the regional district for discussion.
