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No intent to end sensitive receptor program for backyard fires, says mayor

May 18, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

At least one Orangeville resident believes the town’s Sensitive Receptor Program is helpful and ensures a good quality of life for some people.

Cedar Drive resident Ric Ugolini spoke in favour of the program on May 15 during town council’s regular public meeting.

The Sensitive Receptor Program was created in 2016 for both residential and standing sensitive receptors. Council questioned the effectiveness of the program during a meeting on May 1.

“The Sensitive Receptor [Program] is not a bad thing,” Ugolini said. “It makes Orangeville special and a great place to live.”

A standing sensitive receptor is defined as a health care facility, senior citizens’ residence, long-term care facility, or another place where smoke may be a greater risk to the health of a group or individual.

Residential applicants apply annually for a burn permit to allow a backyard fire not within 45 metres of the house.

The town receives as many as 25 sensitive receptor registrations each year. 

And as long as the establishment is in existence, a burn permit will not be approved for a fire pit within 90 metres of the receptor. 

Ugolini said people with sensitivities to smells such as perfumes, smoke, flowers, laundry detergents and others suffer headaches and nausea.

Essentially, they become prisoners in their own homes with windows sealed and the air conditioner on.

“People who are sensitive to smoke have just as much right to enjoy their backyard as people with burn permits,” Ugolini said. “If people were burning responsibly, there would be less smoke.”

But, he said, people like to burn skids or pallets of wood treated with chemicals. They light up green wood that spews heavy smoke. They burn pressure-treated castoff lumber, leaves, garbage and painted wood.

At the May 1 council meeting, Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor said he felt the program causes controversy more than accomplishing what it was intended.

“I think it causes controversy,” Taylor said then. “It allows neighbours who don’t like each other to cause havoc for others.”

Quite simply, Taylor said the program is easily abused. As such, the program is not a worthwhile endeavour, he said.

Ugolini asked for proof that some residents are requesting sensitive receptor status as a means to irritate a neighbour.

“I’m not saying it can’t happen, but it’s just a case of he said, she said,” Ugolini said.

Many buildings ban scented products because some people who work in them are sensitive to smells.

“People with sensitivities don’t necessarily have a medical condition,” he said. “Please help me protect my wife and others in town with sensitivities.”

Mayor Lisa Post said the town isn’t considering eliminating the Sensitive Receptor Program. Instead, council is looking for ways to improve it and to ensure it is doing what it was intended to accomplish.

“So that it is better for the people who require it,” Post said. “So that it is a more fulsome program that’s easier to implement, that makes the jobs of our fire team easier, to make sure that people are using it in the appropriate times.”

Councillor Andy Macintosh said he doesn’t understand the misconception that the town was looking to abolish the program.

Macintosh, a former fire chief, said it’s illegal for people to burn skids and painted wood. There’s no way for officials to know it’s happening unless residents call in a complaint.

“Please report it to the fire department,” Post said. “They will go, they will investigate, they will put it out. If it’s a continuous issue, they will fine them.”

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