At its May 10 meeting, the Sumpter Township Planning Commission recommended approval of a new ordinance regulating the installation and use of outdoor furnaces.
Although the commission has been working for months on updating all the township land-use ordinances, members agreed this one should be pulled out and approved by the township board as soon as possible.
“I would like to accept this now,” said chairman Jane Stalmack. “Because of the energy situation, I can see a lot of these popping up.”
She said she would like the new ordinance to be in place when people start installing these for next winter.
Planning consultant Andrea Bibby, filling in for consultant Laura Kreps of Carlisle Wortman, said these used to be called “wood furnaces” but now they are “outdoor furnaces” because people burn different kinds of fuel, including cherry pits, corn cobs, and pellets.
“A lot of townships are asking people to pull mechanical permits to make sure they are installed safely,” Bibby said. She said the furnaces are popular in rural communities, but you have to make sure the furnaces don’t impact neighbors.
“A lot depends on what you’re burning,” said Commissioner Jim Clark, noting that wood can get very smoky.
“The biggest problem is people are burning what they’re not supposed to be burning,” Bibby said, referring to plastic and other refuse.
Clark said the clerk’s office should have a paper to hand out listing what people are allowed to burn.
Bibby said such furnaces are becoming a lot more sophisticated in their design, although some people make their own.
The new ordinance would allow outdoor furnaces in specific zoning designations on at least an acre of land, with specific setbacks from neighbors.
The proposed ordinance will be sent on to the township board for consideration.
In other business, the commission discussed a business on Willis Road that was approved as an oil change and now has many cars parked around the property, with some having no engines. It was agreed that an ordinance officer should investigate.
“If one person gets away with it, it snowballs. More would try,” Clark said of zoning ordinance violations.
During the commission’s next regular meeting on June 14, members will discuss Section 6.4, ordinances on ponds.