At next month’s meeting, the Barrington Town Council is slated to discuss the ordinance restricting outdoor fires in chimineas and fire pits. But before they vote on a new ordinance that would allow the recreational fires, they asked the town’s solicitor to see how neighboring communities govern the situation.
Following are notes from the solicitor’s office about the draft ordinance that town officials will review and may vote upon:
• “The draft for Barrington is based on Jamestown, which is the only one that specifically mentioned chimineas of the ordinances… As in the draft for Barrington, Jamestown does not require a permit for fires in chimineas at a minimum distance of 25 feet from a structure or combustible material.”
• “East Providence appears to ban recreational fires, except for ‘Cooking of food on barbecues, fireplaces or grills,’ for which there is no minimum distance set by ordinance. There is no permitting process.”
• “Warren’s ordinance does not require a permit for, or set a minimum distance for fires contained in a ‘fireplace, boiler, barrel, or other type of container intended to contain the fire to a specified location’ (which would presumably allow for chimineas) but requires a permit for a ‘campfire.’”
• “Bristol has a very brief ordinance, which defines certain open burning as a nuisance, but specifically excludes ‘the controlled burning of wood such as a campfire’ from that definition. No minimum distance is set by ordinance.”
• “Portsmouth does not require a permit for contained burning (as in an outdoor fireplace) with a minimum distance of 25 feet. Other outdoor burning requires a permit, with a minimum distance of 50 feet.”
• “Tiverton has a more restrictive ordinance, allowing recreational fires including campfires only from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. without a permit, with a minimum distance of 50 feet. Otherwise, a permit is required.”
The Barrington Town Council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m. in the town hall council chambers. The meeting is open to the public.