[Ord. 291, 4/13/2005]
This Part shall be known and cited as the "Plainfield Township
Burning Ordinance."
[Ord. 291, 4/13/2005, Art. 1]
It is against public policy to permit uncontrolled and unrestricted
outdoor burning. The purpose of this Part is to prevent needless public
damage to life and property because of public and private nuisances
caused by outdoor fires deliberately or carelessly set and maintained.
[Ord. 291, 4/13/2005, Art. 2]
For the purposes of this Part, the following words and terms
shall have the meanings ascribed to them herein:
Any fire contained in an incinerator, burn barrel, fireplace
or cooking grill or other contained enclosure designed for outdoor
cooking, or a fireproof container.
The Fire Chief of the Plainfield Township Volunteer Fire
Company, any member of the Slate Belt Regional Police Department,
the Plainfield Township Manager, Plainfield Township Zoning Officer
and the Plainfield Township Code Enforcement Officer shall be designated
Enforcement Officers under this Ordinance. Any citation must be issued
by an officer of the Slate Belt Regional Police Department.
[Amended by Ord. 374, 6/10/2015]
Any fire set or maintained outside of a building at any stage,
including, but not limited to, smoldering or open flame.
All putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from
the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
Any individual, partnership, organization, association, agency,
firm, estate, or corporation and any other legal or commercial entity.
Any fire using natural, untreated wood and containing a fuel
source of not more than 10 cubic feet.
As defined in § 20-202.
[Added by A.O.]
Garbage, rubbish and trade waste.
An individual 18 years or older who is not under the influence
of drugs or alcohol or suffering from any other disability which would
impair his or her ability to properly supervise a fire.
Solid waste, including, but not limited to, rags, old clothes,
leather, rubber, carpets, excelsior, ashes, furniture, tin cans, glass,
crockery, masonry, grease, oil, petroleum products, chemicals, plastic,
tires, railroad ties, asphalt shingles, asphalt siding, polystyrene
and vinyl.
Refuse from the operation of a business.
Any fire not included in the definition of a "contained fire"
or a "recreational fire."
[Ord. 291, 4/13/2005, Art. 3; as amended by Ord. 319, 2/15/2007,
§ 1]
1.
Compliance with Part.
2.
Public Roads and Public Properties. No person shall set, start, feed,
permit to burn or maintain any fire upon any of the street rights-of-way,
sidewalks, alleys, easements or public grounds in Plainfield Township,
except where a designated area has been set aside or reserved for
this purpose and an appropriate container has been provided to contain
such fire.
3.
Safe Distances.
A.
It shall be unlawful to allow any fire, including cooking, within
an unsafe distance from any building.
B.
No fire shall be set, started, fed, permitted to burn or maintained
where such fire may endanger any building or property, except where
such building or property is used by the Fire Department for training
purposes.
C.
Out-of-door fires shall be permitted only upon private property and
shall take place at least 20 feet from any building, street right-of-way,
easements and property lines. Only one fire shall be permitted to
burn at one time.
D.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit indoor cooking activities
providing that reasonable safeguards are maintained.
E.
Cooking grills may be less than 20 feet from a building, providing
that reasonable safeguards are maintained.
4.
Control of Burning and Unattended Fires.
A.
No fire shall be allowed to burn unattended without a responsible
adult being present at all times and without readily available fire-extinguishing
apparatus, such as rakes, shovels, fire extinguishers, and readily
available on-site water.
B.
No fire shall be permitted to burn whenever drought, high winds,
or extreme weather conditions exist or when a ban on burning has been
placed into effect by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the County
of Northampton, the Board of Supervisors or the local police or fire
departments. The Board of Supervisors and/or the Slate Belt Regional
Police Department/Plainfield Township Fire Department may prohibit
any and all outdoor fires when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances
make such fires hazardous.
[Amended by Ord. 374, 6/10/2015]
C.
No fire shall be set that results in uncontrolled burning of vegetation,
grass, brush, forest or leaves.
D.
Out-of-door fires shall be confined in a noncombustible container,
covered with a wire screen of 1/2 inch or smaller mesh, except for
fires of brush, and/or natural, untreated wood which need not be confined
to or covered by a noncombustible container. No brush burning is permitted
within 150 feet from any wooded area. Leaves shall be burned in a
noncombustible container covered with a wire mesh screen.
E.
Prior to the start of an outdoor fire, the property owner upon whose
land the fire will be located, shall notify the Plainfield Township
Fire Company dispatcher of the burn, the name and address of the property
owner, and the materials to be burned. The dispatcher shall also be
notified by the property owner when the burn is completed.
5.
Extinguishing Unsafe Fires. It is a violation of this Part for any
person to allow any fire to burn under adverse weather conditions
or unsupervised, or otherwise in an unsafe manner. Any such fire may
be extinguished by an official of the Township-designated fire company
or the Slate Belt Regional Police Department or the Enforcement Officer
or shall be extinguished immediately upon request of such official
by the property owner or his or her authorized representative.
[Amended by Ord. 374, 6/10/2015]
6.
Hours.
A.
No person shall set or maintain any contained or uncontained fire
of any substance or material of any kind, out-or-doors, anywhere in
the Township of Plainfield between sunset to sunrise.
B.
Contained fires shall not be permitted to burn or smolder between
the hours of sunset to sunrise.
C.
Recreational fires using natural, untreated wood and containing a
fuel source of no more than 10 cubic feet are permitted at any time
so long as they comply with all other provisions of this Part.
D.
No fires of any kind shall be permitted on Sundays or nationally
recognized holidays.
7.
Unlawful Substances.
A.
Burning of construction debris, pressure treated wood or wood products,
plastics, by-products of manufacturing and processing operations,
and wastes from commercial operations is strictly prohibited.
B.
Nothing herein shall be construed to permit or encourage the burning
of any substance determined by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or
the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be a hazardous
substance; nor shall any fire be permitted to burn by any person if
such burning is in violation of the Air Pollution Control Act, 35
P.S. § 4001 et seq., or other legislation of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania or the United States of America or any other competent
public agency.
C.
No garbage, recyclables, rubbish or refuse may be burned at any time
either indoors or out-of-doors.
[Amended by A.O.]
D.
Fires shall be used only to burn readily combustible materials.
8.
Special Circumstances.
A.
In the event that it is necessary to have an uncontained fire of
a size and/or at times other than permitted under this Part, special
permission must be obtained in advance from the Fire Chief of the
Plainfield Township Volunteer Fire company or his designee. In the
event any fire company is required to respond to a fire which violates
the provisions of this Part, a service fee may be levied by the responding
fire company.
B.
Any fire exceeding 10 cubic feet must be given special permission
by calling the Township or the Fire Department five days prior to
the burn.
C.
Any commercial entity having a state permit must still comply with
this Part in regards to weather conditions and announced burning ban.
[Ord. 291, 4/13/2005, Art. 4; as amended by Ord. 374, 6/10/2015;
and by A.O.]
1.
Criminal Prosecution of Ordinance Violators, Fines, Penalties and
Costs.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of
this Part, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a magisterial
district judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary
offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall
be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and,
in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment
not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this Part continues
or each section of this Part which shall be found to have been violated
shall constitute a separate offense.
B.
All citations shall be issued by the Slate Belt Regional Police Department.
2.
Equitable and Other Remedies. No penalty herein shall prevent the
Township from enforcing this Part by equitable, injunctive and other
remedies.
3.
Liability. The Township of Plainfield and its agents, officials,
and representatives, shall not, under any circumstances, be liable
or responsible for damages caused to any person or property by reason
of the provisions of this Part, or by reason of conduct of any burning
activity in compliance with the terms and provisions of this Part.
The individual person or party responsible for any such fire shall
bear sole liability for any damages caused as a result thereof.
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 1]
This Part shall be known as the "Plainfield Township Outdoor
Solid-Fuel-Burning Appliance Ordinance."
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 2]
Any vertical structure enclosing a flue or flues that carry
off smoke or exhaust from a solid-fuel-fired outdoor heating appliance.
Any equipment, device or apparatus which is installed, affixed
or situated outdoors, and not situated within a building intended
for habitation by humans or domestic animals, which is used for the
primary purpose of combustion of fuel to produce heat for energy as
a heating system, or component thereof, which provides heat or hot
water to the principal structure, to a structure used for human or
animal habitation, or to any accessory uses or structures, including,
but not limited to, greenhouses and conservatories.
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 3]
1.
No person, owner and/or contractor shall hereafter install, or allow
the installation or initiation of any work towards the installation
of an outdoor solid-fuel-burning appliance without first obtaining
a permit issued by Plainfield Township.
2.
The application and plan shall be accompanied by such fee as the
Board of Supervisors may prescribe from time to time by resolution.
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 4]
1.
Rubbish or garbage including, but not limited to, food wastes or
wraps, packaging, animal carcasses, paint or painted materials, furniture,
composite shingles, demolition debris or other household or business
wastes.
2.
Waste oil or other oily wastes except used oil burned in a heating
device for energy recovery per applicable DEP regulations.
3.
Asphalt and products containing asphalt, any treated or painted wood
products that are painted, varnished or treated with preservatives.
4.
Any type of plastics or plastic materials.
5.
Rubber, including tires and synthetic rubber-like products.
6.
Any material that is not recommended by the manufacturer of the appliance.
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 5]
1.
Any outdoor solid-fuel-burning appliance shall be located on a lot
of not less than three acres and shall not be less than 200 feet from
any lot line.
2.
Any appliance shall have a minimum height of 10 feet or the maximum
height allowable by the manufacturer. If less than 20 feet, applicant
must provide the Township with documentation from the manufacturer
confirming the restriction.
3.
All appliances shall comply with emissions standards as promulgated
by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All emission standards
currently required by the EPA are hereby adopted by reference as well
as any amendments made to them hereafter.
4.
All appliances shall be installed, operated and maintained in strict
compliance with manufacturers' instructions and guidelines. In
the event of a conflict between the manufacturers' instructions
and regulations and the regulations contained in this Part, the most
stringent regulations shall apply.
5.
All appliances shall be used for the sole purpose of furnishing heat
and/or hot water to a dwelling or other structure.
6.
In the event the appliance is damaged more than 50%, or is physically
deteriorated or decayed, the appliance shall be removed and/or replaced
with a new unit within 60 days of the date that notice is received
from Plainfield Township.
7.
Outdoor solid-fuel-burning appliances on lots less than 20 acres
shall not be operated from June 1 to August 30.
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 6]
A person utilizing or maintaining an outdoor solid-fuel-burning
appliance shall be responsible for all fire-suppression costs and
any other liability resulting from damage caused by a fire.
[Ord. 334, 5/14/2008, § 7; as amended by A.O.]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this Part, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before
a magisterial district judge in the manner provided for the enforcement
of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure,
shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs
and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment
not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this Part continues
or each section of this Part which shall be found to have been violated
shall constitute a separate offense.
