Fire Chief Grant Love presented a set of recommendations for a new backyard burning bylaw on Monday night, which the Community Services Committee voted 3-1 in favour of bringing forward to Council next week. Among other things, the recommendations include lifting recreational burning restrictions in the urban area. PHOTO BY LIAM BERTI
Recreational backyard burning restrictions could be lifted in North Bay very soon.
Fire Chief Grant Love made a presentation to City Council during committee talks at City Hall on Monday night, where he made a list of recommendations to amend the current burning bylaw.
Under the recommendation, all rural areas would be labeled as unrestricted burning areas and would allow recreational and open-air burning. Urban zones, on the other hand, would allow recreational fires only.
The Community Services Committee voted 3-1 in favour of bringing the report before council for a vote during next week’s meeting, where the issue will likely be discussed further.
Heading the revisions is the removal of current urban backyard burning restrictions, allowing recreational fires for all providing every person who sets one complies with a list of regulations.
On the most basic level, those restrictions would include the fire being set in a safe location a certain distance from property lines in an approved manufactured burning appliance no bigger than 45-by-45 centimetres.
Furthermore, the fire must be fuelled by acceptable burning materials only, meaning commercially produced charcoal and briquettes, as well as dry seasoned wood.
And, above all, everyone would require a Recreational Burning Permit, with a zero-tolerance rule coming into effect immediately after the permit is issued.
“We heard from a number of citizens that really wanted this,” said Mayor Al McDonald. “I think what the Fire Chief has put forward is really responsible. Some of these open air burning fireplaces will be very useful and will help control the complaints.”
Under the recommended revisions, those permit applications would be accepted at City Hall customer service, making the process easier and more readily available. The Chief also alluded to an online application and payment process, thus limiting the time, effort and barrier to entry.
“We want to try and keep it as simple as possible but at the same time keep it safe,” said Chief Love. “It’s just safety; it’s not fair to paint everybody with the same brush, but there’s always that one that gets away when we’re dealing with fire and the consequences can be very severe.”
As it stands, open-air fires cannot be lit within urban limits, nor can someone within that area even obtain a permit for one. Only residents in rural areas are permitted.
When asked about his personal stance towards lifting the burning bylaw restrictions though, Chief Love said his underlying responsibilities go against the new recommendations.
“As the Fire Chief, no I would not [support the recommendations],” Chief Love said after the presentation. “To me, the fair thing to say is no, I don’t support it. But I think what we have to do is take what the community and the City of North Bay would like to have.”
Councillor Derek Shogren, on the other hand, said the new recommendations are a long time coming and will begin treating people like adults.
Chief Love said a public education campaign would be a crucial component of the bylaw transition, ensuring that everyone knows the rules to adhere to, so as to not flirt with the zero-tolerance rule.
In response to that, the only member of the Community Services Committee to vote against bringing the motion forward was Coun. Mac Bain, who raised concern for the potential cost and need for further consideration.
“They just wanted to be assured that if they go ahead with this and we do a public education campaign, that it’s not going to be me coming back and asking to increase the budget,” explained Love, who said the cost will likely fall under their existing public education budget.
Chair of the Community Services Committee Coun. Mark King also expressed concern for the increased strain it might place on the fire fighters if the bylaw transition doesn’t go as planned.
“The biggest single issue to me is…the fact that we may create a situation where we’ve got more work for the fire department, so that is an issue,” said King. “but this has been on committee for a fair length of time now, and we have to move forward with this thing to see if we can accomplish at least part of it.”
But despite the concern, Chief Love said he remains confident that the change in rules should not impact the workload for him and his team.
“To me, it shouldn’t transition into more work,” he put simply. “There might be more calls at the beginning when people are unsure of what the regulations are, but in the end, neighbourhoods should end up being able to get along.”
The idea to amend the bylaw was sparked earlier in the year when then-deputy mayor Tanya Vrebosch wanted to look at expanding the areas that permit recreational fires.
She used areas like Premier Road as an example for the confusion, where some properties were recently rezoned, thus excluding them from being able to enjoy a backyard fire while those on other parts of the road still could.
“To me, the open air burning bylaw has been very confusing since we went to the zoning,” she said on Monday night. “I wanted to get away from the zoning and actually have it be a little bit more available to the public; we do live in Northern Ontario.
“But I also want it to be more respectful, so I like the fact that the Chief tonight spoke about zero-tolerance,” she continued. “If somebody isn’t being respectful and doesn’t follow the rules, there is no warning and you lose your permit.”
Love’s report states that the restrictions should be tailored to the city’s particular needs and, when taking population density, burn frequency and potential adverse effects into consideration, they felt North Bay fit the bill for widespread recreational burning.
If Fire Chief Love’s recommendations to City Council go through, outdoor recreational fires could be granted to permit-holding residents throughout the city regardless of zoning.
