[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Franklin Park 11-20-2013 by Ord. No. 608-2013; amended in its entirety 12-18-2019 by Ord. No.
653-2019. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
A device designed for and used exclusively for cooking food
by the application of heat from below; typically fueled by gas, charcoal,
or electricity.
A commercially purchased portable outdoor fireplace or fire
ring that may be constructed of steel, concrete, clay or other noncombustible
material. A portable outdoor fireplace may be open in design or may
be equipped with a small hearth opening and a short chimney or chimney
opening at the top.
The burning of materials wherein products of combustion are
emitted directly into the ambient air without passing through a stack
or chimney from an enclosed chamber. For the purpose of this definition,
a chamber shall be regarded as enclosed when, during the time combustion
occurs, only apertures, ducts, stacks, flues, or chimneys necessary
to provide combustion air and permit the escape of exhaust gas are
open. Open burning does not include barbeque grills/pits, commercially
purchased portable outdoor fireplaces, permanently constructed fireplaces
with chimneys, or road flares, smudgepots and similar devices associated
with safety or occupational uses typically considered open flames.
Any individual and his or her heirs, executors, administrators
or assigns, and any firm, partnership or corporation and its or their
successors or assigns, or the agent of any of the aforesaid, provided
that "person" does not include or apply to the Borough, or to any
department or agency of the Borough.
A controlled outdoor fire that has a total fuel area of three
feet or less in diameter and two feet or less in height built for
pleasure, religious, ceremonial, entertainment, cooking, warmth, or
similar purposes.
Solid material, including without limitation wood, charcoal,
peat, coal, Hexaminine fuel tablets, or wood pellets, used to create
and/or burned to maintain a fire.
A.
Subject to this chapter, an adult property
owner or other adult authorized by the property owner may conduct
or allow open burning on his or her property, solely for the following
purposes:
B.
Before an adult property owner may allow
open burning on his or her property, the adult property owner shall
submit an open burning permit application and have the proposed open
burning site inspected and approved by the Borough Fire Official or
Assistant Fire Official, subject to the following:
(1)
A property owner must allow at least 10
days for the application to be reviewed and the site inspected. Upon
verification that the proposed open burning and open burning site
comply with this chapter, the Borough Fire Official or Assistant Fire
Official shall issue the property owner an open burning permit. If
the Borough Fire Official or Assistant Fire Official concludes the
proposed site does not comply with this chapter, the application shall
be denied and the Borough Fire Official or Assistant Fire Official
shall provide written explanation for the denial.
(2)
Open burning permit applications may be
completed and submitted online via the Borough website, or on paper
in person at the Borough Building during normal business hours. The
fee for an open burning permit shall be set by Borough Council by
resolution, from time to time.
(3)
Open burning permits expire on March 1
of each calendar year.
C.
The Borough Fire Official or Assistant
Fire Official shall maintain a register/log of all open burning permits
issued under this chapter, containing the property address, date of
permit issuance, type of open burning, and location on the property
for which open burning was approved.
D.
A new open burning permit shall be required
if the type of open burning or location on the property for which
open burning was approved is changed or altered in any manner.
E.
All open burning permits are subject to
future ordinance amendments. No vested or "grandfathered" rights shall
be conferred in any type of open burning or location approved or permitted
hereunder, and any permits used hereunder shall automatically expire
if the permitted location or the open burning becomes noncompliant
or prohibited under any future federal, state, county or local law,
regulation or ordinance, including any duly enacted amendments hereto.
A.
The holder of an open burning permit for
a solid fuel-burning fire must notify the Borough Fire Official's
office in advance of each burn. Failure to properly notify the Borough
Fire Official's office pursuant to this section nullifies the open
burning permit immediately. The holder of an opening burning permit
for a gas- or propane-burning fire are not required to notify the
Borough Fire Official's office in advance of each burn.
B.
Notification of a burn may be completed
as follows:
A.
Open burning authorized under this chapter
must be contained within an outdoor fireplace or other factory-built
fire apparatuses.
B.
Acceptable locations.
(1)
Barbeque grills/pits and approved open
burning utilizing propane or other gas fuel shall, while in use, be
no less than five feet from a principal or accessory structure, combustible
material, roadway, utility, and/or property line.
(2)
Approved open burning utilizing solid fuel
shall, while in use, be no less than 25 feet from a principal or accessory
structure, combustible material, roadway, utility, and/or property
line.
C.
Acceptable and prohibited burning materials.
(1)
Only smokeless fuels or small dry kindling,
such as sticks and newspaper, may be used to start a fire.
(2)
All open burning authorized by this chapter
shall be conducted using only charcoal, natural gas, propane, or other
clean-burning fuel; dry, clean logs, twigs; or other untreated wood
products.
(3)
The use of any of the following material(s)
to start or maintain a fire is strictly prohibited: paints; painted
or chemically treated woods; railroad ties; telephone poles; plastics;
cardboard boxes, paper or paper products, except as otherwise authorized
as acceptable kindling materials above; garbage or any other household
or residential wastes; oil; grease; gasoline; asphalt products or
any other petroleum products; rubber; tires; tar or tar paper; dead
animals; animal or human waste; pathogenic waste; insulated wire;
toxic or noxious materials; cloth; leaves; green yard waste; or any
other materials that tend to cause excessive smoke or malodorous emissions
or excessive smoke.
D.
Maximum size. In all cases, an open burn
shall be of such size that the combustible material and flame are
contained completely within the perimeter of the authorized containment
receptacle, and in no case may the combustible material and flame
be greater than nine square feet (three feet by three feet) in area
or in excess of two feet in height above the receptacle.
E.
No person shall allow or maintain an open
burn which creates excessive smoke, excessive odor, or malodorous
emissions. Smoke and odors shall be considered excessive if they contribute
more than negligible amounts of air contaminants perceptible beyond
the property line of the source of the fire.
F.
Only an adult property owner or other adult
authorized by the property owner shall authorize or conduct open burning.
The adult property owner or other adult authorized by the property
owner to conduct such a fire shall, at all times, be present and shall
tend to the open burning from the time it is lit through the time
of total extinguishment. Adequate means to control and extinguish
the open burning shall be readily available at all times during any
burning. Suitable covering or means of disposal of ashes shall be
provided to prevent them from becoming airborne. The adult property
owner or other authorized adult supervising the open burning shall
be responsible to assure that all aspects of the open burning comply
with this chapter and shall assure that the open burning is completely
extinguished before that person leaves the site. Immediately upon
the discovery of an unauthorized or noncompliant open burning, the
property owner or other person responsible for the property on which
such burning occurs shall immediately extinguish, or cause the extinguishment
of, such burning. Proof that the defendant in any enforcement action
owns or controls the property on which open burning occurs shall be
prima facie evidence that such person has conducted, or allowed to
be conducted, such open burning.
A police officer, Fire Official,
Assistant Fire Official, Building Inspector/Zoning Officer, or other
duly authorized law or code enforcement officer of the Borough of
Franklin Park may, upon investigation, order that any fire be immediately
extinguished, abated, diminished or corrected (in his or her sole
discretion) if, in the officer's sole judgment, the fire:
A.
Is emitting excessive smoke, excessive
odor or malodorous emissions;
B.
Contains prohibited materials or is using
prohibited materials or inadequate containment device or mechanism;
C.
Is in a prohibited location or of a prohibited
size;
D.
Is emitting sparks or hot ashes that may
pose a threat to nearby structures, trees, other combustible materials
or to the safety of persons or property;
E.
Where its size, materials, containment,
location, emissions, proximity to structures, trees, other combustible
materials, conduct of participants, weather conditions (including
but not limited to wind, drought, dry or other conditions) or air
quality, or other circumstances are such that continuation of the
fire poses a risk of harm to persons or property;
A.
No person shall allow, authorize, conduct
or participate in any open burning except in compliance with this
chapter or as authorized pursuant to a valid permit issued by the
Allegheny County Health Department pursuant to county ordinances and
regulations.
B.
No person shall conduct open burning in
the Borough, regardless of permit issuance, during a red flag warning
issued for the location of the fire by the National Weather Service.
C.
No person shall refuse to comply immediately
and fully with any order of a Franklin Park Borough police officer,
Fire Official, Assistant Fire Official, or other duly authorized law
enforcement officer or code official to contain, control, correct
or extinguish any fire or open burn.
A.
Any and all Borough police officers, Fire
Official, or Assistant Fire Official, are hereby charged with the
responsibility of issuing warnings or citations, as merited, for all
violations of this chapter.
B.
Enforcement shall be by action brought
before a Magisterial District Judge in the same manner provided for
the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of
Criminal Procedure.
C.
A separate offense shall arise for each
day or portion of a day in which a violation is found to exist or
for each section of the chapter which is found to have been violated.
In the event that such claims for fines and penalties exceed the monetary
jurisdiction of a Magisterial District Judge as set forth in 42 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 1515(a) (relating to jurisdiction and venue), exclusive of
interest, costs or other fees, the Borough may bring such action in
the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas or may, pursuant to 42
Pa.C.S.A. § 1515(a), waive that portion of fines or penalties
that exceed the monetary jurisdictional limits so as to bring the
matter within the monetary jurisdiction of the Magisterial District
Judge.
D.
In addition to or in lieu of enforcement
of this chapter as a summary offense, the Borough may enforce this
chapter through an action in equity brought in the Allegheny County
Court of Common Pleas.
Any person, firm or corporation who
shall violate any provision of this chapter or fails to comply therewith
or with any of the requirements thereof, 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
less than $100 nor more than $1,000 plus costs, including reasonable
attorney's fees incurred by the Borough, and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment to the extent permitted
by law for the punishment of summary offenses. A separate offense
shall arise for each day or portion thereof in which a violation of
this chapter is found to exist or for each section of this chapter
found to have been violated. The Borough may also commence appropriate
actions in equity or other to prevent, restrain, correct, enjoin,
or abate violations of this chapter. All fines and penalties collected
for violation of this chapter shall be paid to the Borough Treasurer.
The initial determination of ordinance violation is hereby delegated
to the Borough Manager, the Police Department, the Borough Staff,
the Borough Building Inspector/Zoning Officer, the authorized designee
of the Borough Manager and to any other officer or agent that the
Borough Manager or the Borough Council shall deem appropriate.
