Yard Waste Management - Burn or Compost?

Yard Waste Management - Burn or Compost?

Summary

Brookfield Residents take great pride in maintaining their homes, including their lawns and gardens. That generates yard waste such as leaves, grass clippings, flowers, sticks, etc. As Brookfield has become more populated, the time honored tradition of burning yard waste has become problematic.

On December 2, 2003 the city council attempted to greatly restrict leaf burning. That ordinance was overturned by a binding referendum petitioned for by residents.

The referendum of April 6, 2004 repealed the change, restoring the old ordinance.

YES - Repeal new - 5,293

NO - Keep old - 4,199

At the Council meeting of February 17, 2004, the following resolution was adopted. It requires a referendum to all residents to be held on election day of April 6, 2004.

Shall the City Ordinance 1940-03 (which repeals the Original Charter Ordinance #5, Chapter 8.36 of the Municipal Code and creates a new Ordinance as related to open burning) be repealed in its entirety, and the Original Charter Ordinance #5 as codified in Chapter 8.36 be reinstated in its entirety?

Yes - Leave old burning rules in place.

No - Adopt new, more restrictive burning rules.

It's up to the voters now.

Alderman Berg recommends voting NO.

Ald. Berg placed an explanation of the ordinance on his campaign brochure, distributed to all residents of the 5th district and had a green NO sign in his front yard.

There are several key points to note about this new ordinance:

The old ordinance was created by referendum as a charter ordinance, which made it difficult to change. This council action turned it into an ordinary ordinance. For example, the old charter ordinance could only be changed by a referendum or a 2/3 vote of the whole council (10 of 14 alderman) while the new ordinance may be modified by a majority of a quorum (5 of 8 alderman in the extreme case.)
The public has 60 days (about February 7, 2004; call the City Clerk for exact details) to file a petition with at least 1,200 signatures demanding a referendum on this change to a charter ordinance. The referendum would either accept this new ordinance or restore the old one.
The number of days per year where burning is allowed was reduced from 156 days to about 50 days. The number of hours during those days was reduced from 11 hours to 5 hours. This is an 45% reduction in legal burning hours.
A $15 annual permit will now be required to burn. Ald. Clappier chaired the Legislative Committee who added this feature to the task force recommendation for several reasons. First, when you buy the permit you will get a copy of the rules, so nobody can claim they didn't know burning was restricted. Second, it provides an unambiguous enforcement standard: burning without a permit is always illegal. Finally, some people who think $15/year is excessive will stop burning altogether.
Mayor Speaker made no statement at the Council meeting regarding his position on this change. However, the mayor chose to NOT use his veto power on this change.
Under both the old and new rules, you may cook outside (e.g. charcoal grill) and have an outdoor fireplace operating at any time.

ORDINANCE NO. 1940-03

REPEALING A CHARTER ORDINANCE AND CREATING AN ORDINANCE

by the Legislative & Licensing Committee

AN ORDINANCE REPEALING THE CHARTER ORDINANCE CHAPTER 8.36 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF BROOKFIELD AND CREATING AN ORDINANCE CHAPTER 8.36 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE

RELATING TO OPEN BURNING

The Common Council of the City of Brookfield do ordain as follows:

PART I. Charter Ordinance Chapter 8.36 of the Municipal Code is repealed and Chapter 8.36 is created to read as follows:

Chapter 8.36 OPEN BURNING

8.36.010 Burning regulated.

A. Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall burn, or cause to be burned, the following:

Garbage or construction debris (e.g. lumber, carpeting, etc.);
Any material liberating a toxic substance or combustion, or producing a noxious odor or creating a health hazard (e.g. rubber tires, plastics, etc.) This section shall not include fallen leaves or branches that have fallen or have been cut;
Flammable liquids or other materials which create a fire hazard;
Open areas of standing grass, woods, brush or similar materials;
Combustibles in an amount exceeding two feet in height and five feet in diameter.
Cut grass;
Any material on non-residential property.

B. No burning shall be allowed between five p.m. and twelve p.m. (noon), and all fires must be completely extinguished by five p.m. No open burning shall be allowed when the wind velocity exceeds ten (10) miles per hour as indicated by the SBC Weather Information Service.

C. Burning shall be permitted only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during the months of April, May, October, and November, except burning is not permitted on designated Ozone Action Days, legal holidays or on the City of Brookfield’s designated Trick or Treat day (typically October 31). Burning in ditches, in the City right-of-way, or on roadways is prohibited.

D. The fire chief is authorized to issue written permits on forms provided by him for fires otherwise prohibited by subsection (A)(3), (4), (5) and (7) of this section, and to impose such additional conditions and requirements as he deems necessary for the public safety and welfare. He may refuse such permit completely if he concludes the proposed burning would be hazardous, unsafe or otherwise harmful.

E. Permits shall be required for burning, as follows:

Permitted dry combustibles in an amount less than five feet in diameter and two feet in height, more than twenty-five (25) feet from the front lot line, fifteen (15) feet from the side lot line, ten feet from the rear lot line, and twenty-five (25) feet from any building, structure, garage, shed or fence provided the fire is watched and controlled by a competent person of at least 18 years of age until such fire is extinguished and adequate fire protection facilities such as a garden hose or fire extinguisher are available and ready for instant use;
Permitted dry combustibles in a container having a wire mesh cover with openings of one-half inch or less (burn barrel). The container must be more than twenty-five (25) feet from a building, flammable liquids or other materials which create a fire hazard, or in a location approved in writing by the fire chief.
Permits shall only be issued to the owner of residential property for which the permit is applied (no permits issued to tenants).
Permits for burning authorized by this ordinance shall be issued by the office of the City Clerk. The annual license fee shall be fifteen dollars ($15.00) and be valid for the calendar year for which it is issued. In the event any burning is commenced before obtaining such permit, the fee charged for such permit shall be doubled.

F. Exemptions. The following are exempt from the provisions of this section:

1. Cooking fires in barbecue pits, grills and outdoor fireplaces;

2. The operation of home incinerators inside a dwelling, and commercial incinerators.

G. Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in Chapter 1.12.

PART II. This ordinance shall take effect sixty (60) days after passage and publication.

PART III. All ordinances and parts of ordinances contravening the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed.

ADOPTED AND APPROVED December 2 , 2003

Kristine A. Schmidt, City Clerk Jeff R. Speaker, Mayor

Published: December 11, 2003

Links

MJS - March 29, 2004 - Residents Get Their Say on Leaf Burning April 6

MJS - January 28, 2004 - New Berlin panel backs off from ban on burning leaves

MJS – December 20, 2003 – The Morning Mail

MJS – September 20, 2003 – The Morning Mail

MJS – September 11, 2003 – Throwing Needed Rain on Nasty Firefights (Laurel Walker)

MJS – August 16, 2003 – Task backs Leaf Burning, New Limits

MJS – August 13, 2003 – Panels Backs Keeping Leaf Burning Legal

MJS - July 10, 2003 - Task Force Divided over Leaf Burning

MJS – May 17, 2003 – The Morning Mail

MJS – May 3, 2003 – Leaf Burning Fuels Debate in Communities

MJS – April 19, 2003 – The Morning Mail

MJS – April 9, 2003 – Voters May Rule on Leaf Burning Ban (New Berlin)

MJS - April 8, 2003 - Brookfield Considering Ban on Leaf Burning

MJS – April 5, 2003 – The Morning Mail

MJS - March 11, 2003 - Task Force to Tackle Brookfield's Burning, Yard Waste Issue

MJS - November 14, 2002 - City tries to see its way clear to restrain leaf burning

MJS - November 7, 2002 - Brookfield considers alternatives to leaf burning