The following are the sections of the Town code of ordinances that apply to open burning within Town limits:

 Sec. 4-4. - Prohibition and control of open burning.

It shall be unlawful for any person to burn or cause to be burned any outside or open fire within the town, except fires used for outdoor cooking or recreation, without first obtaining a written permit disclosing the person authorized to burn a fire, the lot or place of the fire, the duration of the permit and any additional information necessary for an adequate review of the permit as determined by the permit-issuing authority. The chief of the fire department is authorized to issue permits for open burning subject to the provisions of section 4-5 of this article. The fire chief, or his designated agent, is also responsible for any investigations to determine whether open burnings are conducted in compliance with this section. If the fire chief determines that an open burning constitutes a hazard or nuisance, he/she may seek assistance from the chief of police for the enforcement of this section and section 4-5. A violation of this section is punishable as a misdemeanor with a maximum fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00).

(Ord. No. 1737, § 1, 9-8-81; Ord. No. 3716, § 2, 11-19-13; Ord. No. 5091, § 1, 1-3-22)

Editor's note— Sections 1—3 of Ord. No. 1737, enacted Sept. 8, 1981, repealed §§ 4-4—4-6 relative to open burning, and §§ 1 and 2 enacted, in lieu thereof, new §§ 4-4 and 4-5 as herein set out. The former sections derived from Ord. No. 1157, §§ 1—3, enacted April 18, 1966.

Sec. 4-5. - Conditions for open burning.

No person shall burn or cause to be burned any trash or rubbish, leaves, tree branches, yard trimmings, old building materials, heavy oils, asphaltic materials, natural or synthetic rubber, or other material of any kind within the town, except as hereinafter permitted in this section. Under no circumstances shall any person burn or cause to be burned any open fire within the fire limits of the town.

(a) Open burning for the purposes of land clearing or right-of-way maintenance will be permitted only if the following conditions are met:

(1) Prevailing winds at the time of burning must be away from any densely occupied or developed area, the ambient air of which may be significantly affected by smoke, fly-ash, or other air contaminants from the burning;

(2) The location of the burning must be at least one thousand (1,000) feet from any dwelling located in a predominately residential area other than a dwelling or structure located on the property on which the burning is conducted;

(3) Materials other than plant growth may not be burned;

(4) In order to reduce the amount of smoke produced and to promote clean burning of brush, limbs, tree stumps and other plant growth, the amount of dirt on the material and the material to be burned must be minimized;

(5) Initial burning may generally be commenced only between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and no combustible material may be added to the fire between 3:00 p.m., of one (1) day and 9:00 a.m. of the following day, except that under favorable meteorological conditions derivations from the above-stated hours of burning may be granted by the North Carolina Division of Environmental Management, Raleigh Regional Office, Air Quality Section. It shall be the responsibility of the owner or operator of the open burning operation to obtain written approval from such agency for burning during periods other than those specified above.

(b) This section shall not prohibit open fires purposely set for the instruction and training of fire-fighting personnel of any fire department.

(c) Air curtain burning is permitted if the following conditions are met:

(1) Definition: Air curtain burning (also referred to as pit burning) is defined as being the type of controlled burning set forth in North Carolina Administrative Code, Section 32, Environmental Management, subsection .1904.

(2) Air curtain burning shall be subject to all requirements of N.C.A.C. Section 32, .1904 and of this section 4-5 except subsection (a)(2); in the event of any conflict between N.C.A.C. Section 32, .1904, this section shall be controlling.

(3) Instead of one thousand (1,000) feet, properly conducted curtain burning may be conducted no less than seven hundred (700) feet from any dwelling, group of dwellings, or commercial or institutional establishment, or other occupied structure not located on the property on which the burning is conducted.

(Ord. No. 1737, § 2, 9-8-81; Ord. No. 3249, § 1, 7-22-03)

Note: See the editor's note following section 4-4.