The Lamar County Board of Supervisors is mulling over whether to create a new burning ordinance that would more clearly define what types of materials can be burned in the county, in addition to increasing fines and penalties for violations of burn regulations.
Lamar County Administrator Jody Waits said the county’s current litter ordinance does contain language regarding open burning, but creating a new, separate ordinance that focuses strictly on burning would help the county enforce its policy on burning.
“The current litter ordinance kind of outlines when you can and can’t (burn), and how you go about it,” he said. “It just isn’t comprehensive enough to cover some of the problems we’ve had with open burning and being able to act on that when that happens.
“So the suggestion is that we strike that language from the litter ordinance and create an entirely new burning ordinance that would be more comprehensive. It would outline what you can and can’t do and what the fines are and ups the fines and penalties if you violate the ordinance.”
The suggestion for the proposed ordinance was recently brought to supervisors by Mike Davis, the county’s code enforcement officer, who said a new ordinance would give himself – as well as the sheriff’s office – the authority to enforce burning regulations.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with the burn bans or arson or anything like that – that’s a separate thing,” Davis said. “This is just (for instance) somebody burning a truckload of tires, basically, in their back yard.
“We can go out and see it, and it gives us the authority to either make the property owner put it out or call the fire department to come put it out. It’s at our discretion.”
Board President Warren Byrd acknowledged the problems the county has had in the past with residents illegally burning materials.
“We had an individual burning paint and chemicals at what he called a ‘permitted recycle site,’” said Byrd, who represents District 2. “We caught him twice, and we called (the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality), and to be honest with you, they haven’t done anything.
“We had pictures of the man, had pictures of what he was doing, and he just promised he wouldn’t do it again. So moving forward, I’d like to look at this and change something, so next time it happens, we’re going to give him a written citation.”
Supervisors are expected to decide on the matter by their next meeting, which is scheduled for March 2.
“Right now, it’s a draft; it’s still just in pencil form,” Waits said. “But there have been occasions where people have burned things they shouldn’t burn. I’m not trying to say you can’t rake leaves and burn it in your yard or when you’re clearing property of your own.
“But it is going to point out that if you’re burning, and the wind is blowing directly to your neighbor, and there’s a child that lives next door, then that’s a problem, and we don’t want that. Or if you have recyclables, and you’re operating a recycling center, and you are permitted to dispose of that properly, then you should dispose of it and not set the tires on fire.”
In addition to the proposed burn ordinance, Lamar County Senior Planner Michael Hershman also discussed with supervisors potential changes to the county’s zoning ordinances, including updates to subdivision zoning and site plan ordinances. Under one of those measures, officials are looking to change the enforcement of violations for stormwater runoff.
“We have that in situations where somebody’s building something and they have runoff, so we go out and cite them, they go to justice court and get a fine,” Waits said. “If they go out the next day and it hasn’t been corrected, then we have to go out and write the citation again, so the suggestion is that we change our language so that citation continues.”
