No flame, no (financial) pain in McHenry County

No fooling, the days of disposing of fallen leaves and other yard waste by burning it are over for many McHenry County property owners.

The county's much-debated open-burning ordinance went into effect at midnight today, putting tight new restrictions on who can burn and when they can do it.

Seen as long overdue by some, and overly burdensome by others, the new ordinance won McHenry County Board approval in December at the urging of public-health officials who say it's needed to protect thousands of residents' well-being.

"It's estimated that as many as a third of the county's population has a respiratory-health issue or is sensitive to the smoke from burning land waste," said Joseph Gugle, manager for planning, personnel and administration for the McHenry County Department of Health. "This is our way of addressing that issue."

The new rules ban burning within 100 feet of any residence or business, a 70-foot increase that will ban the practice for anyone not living on a large lot.

The new ordinance also limits burning to the hours between dawn and dusk during the months of April, May, October and November.

The regulations are countywide, though most municipalities have burning restrictions equal to or even stricter than the county's. The measure imposes tighter restrictions than those previously in place in Huntley, Lakemoor, Fox Lake and Barrington Hills, although Huntley officials recently agreed to adopt the county standards as their own.

Violators will face a fine of up to $100 for a first offense and up $1,000 for subsequent offenses.

But for now, Gugle said, the health department is focusing more on education than enforcement. The agency's environmental-health division has been meeting with municipalities and townships to spread the word about the ordinance and this week is posting signs and fliers outlining the new rules.

"The next step is to get the information out there to homeowners," he said. "Educating is really what we're pushing right now."

McHenry County sheriff's deputies, who will enforce the ordinance when the health department is closed, will take a similar approach in the early going.

"Depending on the situation, we'll issue a verbal warning at first and then issue a citation if it's a recurring situation," Capt. Tony Cundiff said. "We want to make sure they are familiar with the ordinance first."