Outdoor furnace debate could get hotter
Posted by Kirsten Fredrickson | Special to the Gazette June 01, 2008 05:00AM
TEXAS TOWNSHIP -- Depending on whom you ask, outdoor furnaces or boilers are either underregulated, pollution-prone nuisances or unobtrusive, cost-efficient ways to heat homes.
One thing, though, seems certain: More rural and suburban areas will be grappling with how to deal with them.
In Texas Township, where population growth has sometimes clashed with its rural roots, trustees have adopted a ban on outdoor furnaces that takes effect later this month. Fueled by increasing nuisance complaints from residents, the township board also put seasonal, setback and other restrictions on existing units.
As the first community in the Kalamazoo area to establish an ordinance, and with no state or federal guidelines and scant examples elsewhere to follow, Texas Township officials struggled in crafting rules to regulate the outdoor furnaces.
"We sit here really kind of naked trying to come up with the best ordinance," Supervisor Ron Commissaris said May 12, as the township board prepared to pass its new rules after several months of consideration and public input.
"There's a lot of passion involved in this issue on both sides," Clerk Linda Kerr said.
An outdoor furnace has been described as looking like a small shed with a short smokestack. The Texas Township ordinance defines one as a "boiler or furnace, fueled by wood, coal or other types of fuel, located outside the structure it is used to heat, with the designated purpose of providing indoor heat for water and/or air for a residence or other structure."
As costs to heat with gas and other sources climb and more people look to alternate heating sources, the issue of regulating outdoor furnaces is popping up elsewhere. Kerr said township officials have fielded calls from officials in other Kalamazoo County townships and beyond.
