So a new Grand Rapids, MI, open burn ordinance has been announced that "allows" some people to have a recreational fire on their own property. Minimum lot size is 5,000 sq. ft, so that eliminates about 85% of all properties in the city. My own property is 3,750 sq. ft. The property owner must pay an additional tax of $50/yr (the cost of the annual permit they must purchase), the fire pit must be "...at least 20 feet away from any structure or fence and must be contained in a pit or chimenea. No fires are allowed on high risk fire days or Ozone Action Days.
Fires must be extinguished by 10 p.m. and residents need permission from their neighbors on either side."
SERIOUSLY?!
My neighbors who use powerful fireworks before, during, and after the allowed holidays throughout the year don't have to ask my permission before lighting them off until 1:00 or 2:00 am, they don't have to worry that the smoke in our neighborhood is thick enough to cut with a chainsaw or that the average lot size is closer to 50' x 50' (2500 sq ft), and they don't have to purchase a permit to light off their completely unconfined fireworks. This new ordinance, which is being tested for 2 years and will be reconsidered in 2018, favors large property owners - with a few exceptions, the wealthiest citizens of the city.
This is a garbage ordinance that, once again, tramples private property rights - especially those of the less-than-wealthy.
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