Politics & Government

Residents Fired Up About Wood-Burning Furnaces

With a moratorium set to expire in November, Lakewood City Council examines its options.

With winter around the corner, the thought of large, wood-burning furnaces got nearly a dozen Lakewood residents all fired up Tuesday night.

In its first meeting following summer its annual break, is considering a measure that would ban — or regulate — the controversial boilers in the city.

— along with health concerns — fueled a nine-month moratorium on the approval of the outdoor furnaces, which is set to expire in November.

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Council is now considering a more permanent solution.

The original ordinance after neighbors of three Lakewood homes — on Merl Avenue, Manor Park Avenue and Waterbury Road — filed complaints.

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There were also a number of filed.

The homes with wood-burning furnaces — traditionally used in rural settings — will be allowed to keep them while council sorts out the issue.

For now.

On Tuesday, council weighed issues such as air quality, distance that the smoke travels, what can be burned — and when.

Questions remain whether council can ban the existing furnaces, which were a grandfathered exception during the moratorium.

Another option is regulating the existing boilers.

“Nothing is off the table yet,” said Ward 3 councilman , who introduced the original moratorium earlier this year. “We are going to make some changes to the existing regulations, and also build a draft with a ban.”

The boilers operate like most other hot-water-based boiler systems, except that the heat is generated through burning wood as opposed to traditional gas.

The smoke produced from the burning wood is the primary concern.

None of the homeowners with the controversial furnaces attended.

But their neighbors did. Many of them are the same residents who attended the meetings earlier this year.

Paula Reed, who lives next door to one of the homes with the controversial furnace on Manor Park Avenue, said health is her primary concern. 

“From the research we’ve done, there is no amount of wood smoke that you can breathe without putting people at risk,” she said at the committee meeting before the regular council meeting Tuesday night. “It’s our health, it’s our safety, it’s our property values.”

“We are way too dense of a community to have this happening.”

Eric Lowery, who lives near one of the furnaces on Waterbury Road, argued for an outright ban on the existing furnaces.

“I don’t think we should be made to suffer in the hopes that the messiah of wood burning will show up,” he said.

Council is expected to continue the discussion next week at city council’s public safety meeting.

“We’re hoping we can get this wrapped up so we can get this going,” Juris said. “There is a place where things are used a lot, and a place where things maybe just don’t fit — I think this would certainly be one that doesn’t necessarily fit.”


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