Township revising rules for burning

EAST ROCKHILL » Responding to a resident’s questions the previous month, the East Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors said June 28 that the township ordinance regarding burning will be revised.

“The existing regulations treat burning of leaf waste synonymously, or in the same way, as burning trash,” Will Oetinger, the township’s solicitor, said.

The ordinance, which includes prohibiting the burning of logs or other materials generally used in recreational burning, technically bans all burning, including recreational fires such as those in a fire pit, township officials said.

“I proposed a revision to the ordinance that was highly technical,” Oetinger said.

He then discussed it with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

“They said scrap all these technical requirements and use a scalpel rather than a cleaver,” in making the revisions, Oetinger said.

The new proposal adds exceptions to the ordinance allowing ceremonial and recreational fires, he said.

The board then discussed when and where firepits and recreational burning should be allowed and Oetinger said he will write up a draft version of the proposed revisions and bring that back to the board’s July meeting.

In a separate matter at the meeting, the board approved the purchase of a conservation easement for 22.302 acres of a 24.75 acre property at 1800 Three Mile Run Road.

“The purchase price is, after appraisal, $144,963,” Oetinger said.

Closing for the purchase was scheduled to take place that week, he said.

A conservation easement purchases the development rights to the property, ensuring that the land will remain free of additional development.