LAKETOWN TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, June 17, 2024) – The Laketown Township Board of Trustees on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, unanimously approved the first appeal to the township’s new Open Burning ordinance. The appeal could lead to a change in the rules that gives more authority to the fire chief to decide who can burn brush west of 66th Street. Supervisor Linda Howell instructed the original burn ordinance committee to draft changes to the rules and report back to the township board.
The township looked at the rules around open burning for about six months and set up a committee to look at changes. Trustees Patrick Dietrich and Jim Delaney worked with Graafschap Fire Chief Doug DenBleyker with input from residents to come up with the new rules.
The ordinance, which went into effect in May, divides fires into recreational and open burning categories. A recreational fire is a small outdoor fire used for cooking, warming or a social gathering. The rules permit recreational fires west of 66th Street. Open burning is a fire from which the combustion emissions pass directly into the open air without first passing through a stack or chimney. Open burning fires can include brush, limbs, and stumps. Open burning requires a permit and is allowed in the township but not west of 66th Street unless approved through an appeal process with the township board.
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