PORTAGE | A suggested ordinance to regulate outdoor furnaces didn't sit well with some members of the Northwestern Regional Planning Commission's Environmental Management Policy Committee or public Thursday morning.
A committee has been working for months on a proposal that would either regulate or ban the furnaces, which are growing in popularity across the country.
The furnaces, also known as outdoor wood heaters or boilers, are systems that burn wood to heat water that is piped underground to a nearby structure, resulting in heat for that structure.
The furnaces have been criticized as polluters and health hazards.
Kevin Breitzke, EMPC vice chair and chairman of the working group, told the EMPC Thursday that his committee had put together an ordinance that would regulate instead of ban outdoor furnaces. The ordinance would allow furnaces on land parcels 25 acres and larger, would require permits, would regulate what could be burned and would require an annual operating permit.
He suggested committee members take the proposal back to their communities for discussion before the EMPC's April 5 meeting.
Not everyone was pleased, however.
"The town of Ogden Dunes is looking to ban them. We are looking for that language," said Susan Mihalo, an Ogden Dunes resident and member of Save the Dunes Council.
Charlotte Read, also of the Save the Dunes Council and a member of the EMPC, said she had hoped there would be more details on health effects. She said five or six jurisdictions in the state have banned them and had hoped additional alternative information would have been included.
James Donnelly, of LaPorte, said the ordinance "falls short."
He criticized the proposal, saying there was no discussion on health issues along with several other concerns.
"We are asking for a disaster here," said Donnelly, adding if the suggested ordinance did receive a recommendation from NIRPC and its committee, municipalities likely would pass it without having needed information.
After a lengthy discussion, it was decided representatives would take the issue back to their communities and that NIRPC would post relevant information and research about the issue on its Web site, www.nirpc.org.
