Millerton decides to ban outdoor wood stoves

MILLERTON — The Village Board spoke about the potential dangers of outdoor wood-burning stoves during its meeting last Monday, Oct. 20, eventually concluding that Village Attorney Michele Haab would rewrite the zoning laws to prohibit them.

Trustee Marty Markonic passed around some research he had done on the Internet speaking to the ill effects of outdoor wood stoves. He passed around pictures of neighbor’s houses blackened from the cloud of smoke emitting from an outdoor furnace’s chimney.

“At the least, the town should make it mandatory that if a neighbor complains, they should have to raise the chimney,� he said.

Current law states that the outdoor stove chimneys, at the minimum, have to rise 3 feet above the highest peak.

Mayor John Scutieri mentioned that the village would not be able to police indoor stoves.

“The only control we have over those is the height of the chimney,� he said. “As far as outdoors is concerned, I don’t think the wood furnaces will ever be suitable for village use. The houses here are too close together.�

Scutieri also brought up gasification stoves “that burn so much hotter [than other stoves] that they don’t emit smoke.�

“But when you shut them down during the day, they smoulder,� Markonic replied. “I’d hate to have someone install one and have the neighbor get mad because the smoke is hitting his house.�

Markonic said that there should be a ban on any furnace outside of your living quarters. Haab said that in addition to bringing something in to the next board meeting, she would revisit chimney height zoning to make sure that there weren’t any loopholes that residents could use as a way around the ban.

There will be a public hearing concerning outdoor wood furnaces Monday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m.

Residents wanting to weigh in on the issue are encouraged to attend.

In other Village Board news, Barton Street, Simmons Street and the northside of Century Boulevard to Dutchess Avenue will be closed for Halloween. Curfew for residents under the age of 18 was set at 9 p.m.