Month: September 2013

by Robb Davis

There is little doubt that some of our neighbors in Davis have health problems that are exacerbated by wood smoke.  There is also little doubt that other neighbors enjoy having wood fires and that some use wood or wood products as a way to heat their homes.  This leads to a conflict over interests/needs, but it is a conflict that is fairly localized-that is, between people who live near one another, people who share a common space and who, presumably, would be best served by resolving the conflict themselves without the automatic threat of punishment from the city.

We have the tools and resources to deal with wood smoke conflicts in this way-to find alternative forms of conflict resolution that will serve the needs of those whose health is adversely affected while providing those who desire to burn wood some latitude to do so.

On Tuesday night, the council voted 4-1 to support the idea of variable rates for waste containers, with Councilmember Brett Lee dissenting.  Councilmember Lee primarily objected because of the six-dollar differential between the 65 gallon and 95 gallon containers, as opposed to a three-dollar differential on the difference between 65 gallon and 35 gallon containers.

He argued that the 20 percent rate increase seems excessive.  However, after the council pondered a flatter rate structure, the concerns from city staff about revenue needs as well as the limitations of the Prop 218 process that is already underway ultimately swayed the rest of council to support the staff recommendation.

Staff Will Come Back with Final Ordinance – After considerable discussion, the Davis City Council unanimously asked staff to come back with an ordinance similar to the staff recommendation on wood burning.  Brett Lee ultimately made the motion to include an exception for EPA-certified stoves, as the threshold in this ordinance would have been detrimental to a typical person.

Councilmember Lee also wanted it expanded to 365 days a year.  “We’ll call this a first step, we’ll see what happens,” he said.  “We’ll come back to this in six months’ time and then we’ll try to have something crafted based upon our experience in terms of typical person versus visible smoke.  That gets us going so that we’re in place for this winter.”

It was our initial understanding that the concern for wood smoke burning had to do with the large amount of particulate matter put into the air, particularly on days with little wind movement to blow the smoke particles out of the valley.  The result was that air quality management would issue certain no-burn days and the city has, without a huge amount of success, attempted both voluntary and mandatory regulations during those days.

Somewhere in this process the focus has shifted from a global impact of particulate matter in Davis’ air to the impact on neighbors – dubbed the nearest neighbor effect.