By: Maria Moore

A Public Hearing will be held by the Planning & Zoning Commission tomorrow evening, Wednesday, June 8 at 7:00 p.m. to continue the moratorium on outdoor woodburning furnaces (OWFs) for one year and also to amend the town’s Zoning regulations to add OWFs under Article V, Section 14 – Prohibited Uses.

The following legal notice regarding the Public Hearing was published in the Hartford Courant on May 25, 2011 and June 1, 2011:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
TOWN OF NEW HARTFORD

The Planning & Zoning Commission will meet on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. in New Hartford Town Hall, 530 Main Street, New Hartford, CT to conduct the following public hearing:

Continue Moratorium on Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces – Article V, Section 14.2 – a one (1) year moratorium on Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces

Amend Regulations – Article V, Section 14 –Prohibited Uses – Add new Paragraph n. Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces.

At these public hearings, interested persons may appear and be heard and written communications received. Copies of the applications are on file and are available for inspection in the Land Use/Planning Office in New Hartford Town Hall, 530 Main Street, New Hartford, CT.
Dated this 13th day of May 2011
Planning & Zoning Commission
Chairman James Steadman

Discussion Of OWFs At P&Z Commission Meeting

At their May 11 meeting, the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) members were able to discuss outdoor woodburning furnaces (OWFs) with their Land Use Attorney, Mark Branse. Jim Steadman, P&Z Chairman, recapped where they were with the issue by saying that the selectmen had sent P&Z a letter asking them to act to regulate OWFs. Jim said: “I’d like to ban them – wait for some further regulation – something to hang our hats on.” Ted Stoutenberg added: “That’s why we sent it to the selectmen so that they can do an ordinance to regulate those (OWFs) that are here.” Gil Pratt agreed: “The ones that exist, there’s nothing that we can do here.” It was apparent that the commission members felt that the selectmen had abrogated their responsibility by not taking action themselves on the issue.

P&Z members were told their options were: A, do nothing; B, put in some sort of regulation; and C, ban future installations. Attorney Branse pointed out that the EPA already has standards for wood stoves and they are considering similar regulations for OWFs. The commission members continued discussing OWFs, with Dan LaPlante saying that we already have regs now with setbacks, etc.; Ted Stoutenberg said that OWFs cost beween $20,000 to $30,000, that people who have them have to cut wood and they have to keep them stoked. In his opinion, he said: “We’re making a mountain out of a mole hill.”

Commission member Gil Pratt said: “Why not extend the moratorium?” To which fellow commisision member Ken Heisey agreed, saying:”We could watch what happens with the regs.” Attorney Branse said that they would still need a public hearing. Commission member David Krimmel agreed they should have a public hearing, saying: “There’s a valid reason for banning them.” Attorney Branse said that they should present their case to the town, why they want to ban them. “Let’s hear what the town has to say – it’s supposed to be participatory government.” The attorney said.

With the present six-month moratorium expiring on June 15, the P&Z commission members discussed how long to extend the moratorium: 18 months, a year or 6 months. They settled on a one-year extension of the moratorium.

The Chapfields, a couple from Town Hill Road, were at the meeting and they said that since they’d installed an OWF, they’d reduced their fuel costs by two-thirds. “The DEP is watchdogging OWFs big time!” They told the commission members. They said that over the past three years, the DEP had found no violations with their OWF. Attorney Branse told them: “The current regulations don’t allow testing for opacity.” Philip Chapfield came back saying that the DEP had been there 45 times for 4 hours each time. “No wonder our taxes are going up!” He said. Jim Steadman told him: “In a public hearing, you would be able to say that!”

The commission members then discussed what to advertise as the subject of the public hearing. Attorney Branse advised them: “You can always adopt a regulation that’s lesser than what you advertised.” The commission members agreed to this, and they voted 3-to-2 to hold a public hearing on June 8 to ban OWFs.

Smoke from an outdoor woodburning furnace on Cottage Street drifts across Route 219 in this late-winter scene. Photo: NewHartfordPlus archives