Conduct Open Burning Illegally, Get a $50 Ticket

Conduct an open burning violation and you can now face a ticket of $50, $100 or $200.

The approved an ordinance Thursday night clarifying what a violation entails and allowing police and village officials to issue tickets to residents when violations occur.

Previously, the village wrote residents a long-form complaint and citation under state law.

The new policy establishes a fee of $50 for a first-time offense, $100 for the second time and $200 for the third and any time thereafter.

The ordinance states it's unlawful to burn any paper, cardboard, leaves, twigs, branches, wood, grass, grass clippings, refuse from farming or gardening, or other refuse or other combustible materials of any nature, except in the following situations. 

You can burn charcoal briquettes, natural gas, propane, approved wood or commercially prepared seasoned wood chips for cooking. You can't do this if you're in a multi-family building, but you can if you live in a townhome.

You can also have an outdoor bonfire conducted by a religious, educational or other not-for-profit organization providing you have a permit, adult supervision and adequate safety equipment.

Recreational campfires are also permitted. These are defined as "a safely conducted and controlled fire utilized for comfort and relaxation."

For a recreational campfire to be legal, you must follow these rules:

• The fire must be under the control and attended at all times by someone 18 years old or older
• You have a portable fire extinguisher or other approved extinguishing agent such as sand, dirt or water
• The fire is safely managed and does not create excessive flames, flying cinders or smoke
• The fire is in an area at least 15 feet away from any structure 
• The fire does not emit offensive or objectional smoke or odor or when other circumstances make such fires hazardous
• The fire can't be used for waste disposal purposes

In addition to cooking, recreational campfires and organization campfires, here are other times burning is permitted:

• Burning in a fireplace or a facility designed for the purpose
• Burning combustible materials in a high temperature incinerator providing complete combustion and complying with the rules and regulations of the Illinois Pollution Control Board
• Burning for recognized silvicultural, range or wildlife management practices or prevention or control of disease or pests, provided a fire code official does not find this a danger to anyone, a permit is issued and it's attended by adequate personnel and safety equipment is approved by the fire code official

The ordinance also includes fees for offenses unrelated to open burning. Residents can be issued a $50 fine for the storage of any combustible refuse, landscape waste material or recyclable material that is a fire hazard.

Residents can be issued a $10 fine for taking garbage and recycling bins to the curb before 3 p.m. on the day before their collection day or for failing to move the bins back by 8 p.m. on collection day.

An unsanitary deposit will also get a resident a $50 fine.