Log pile and the town

[Jay H]

Any of you have problems with the town's munipality with your pile of logs? I have a small pile of about 8 logs (at least now) that I have been slowly working on bucking into rounds so I can split them. Some of these are huge 36" trunks so it takes me a bit.

Since I only have a 1/3 acre in NJ, and no access to my backyard with a fence, it's in my wide driveway as it's the only place the guy with the crane could get to. I got a very confusing letter from my town's code enforcer about a violation.

obviously the town has a litter/refuse code where you can't just turn your backyard into a junkyard.

However, the letter states and is highlighted by the code enforcer:

Sec 141-17. Woodpiles and compost piles.

Nothing set forth in this article shall be deemed to prohibit:

A. [compost pile stuff deleted]

B. the creation and maintenance of a woodpile on private premises, kept stacked and reasonably secured, used to collect and maintain wood for purposes of burning in a fireplace or stove located within a structure existing upon said private premises.

Now, to me, obviously I live here, the house is not vacant, nobody is moving these 10' 36" diameter logs without a crane, it sounds like the policy is saying that compost piles and woodpiles do not fall under the litter ordinance, no?????????? Which makes me wonder about the letter itself. I left a message with the code enforcer but I know this town is slow to respond. Has any of you had a problem with your town with your log pile? I can only think they are talking about the sawdust and not the logs themselves, at least I hope so.

I can only think the town is complaining about the sawdust but I am in the middle of cutting and was going to clean it after I finish... Does your town actually have code against the storage of logs? My split wood gets stacks in my backyard on pallets in a very nice orderly fashion.

Jay

 

[JustWood]

Total BS You have a neighbor that doesn't like looking at your wood pile and reported you . Go around your township and get pics of other peoples wood pile so you have a leg to stand on .

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That letter seems to spell it right out. "Nothing set forth in this article shall be deemed to prohibit..." Well, nothing shall prohibit it, so, it appears to me you are okay. As you stated, just clean up the mess when you are through. Like Lee said, you have a stupid neighbor who turned you in. If it were me, I'd simply ignore the whole thing and carry on as you have been.

 

[billb3]

Do you have a neighbor with a "for sale " sign in their front yard ?
(or maybe a neighbor that searches thier front yard for a newly sprouted weed every morning ?)

<<B. the creation and maintenance of a woodpile on private premises, kept stacked and reasonably secured,

I'd be suspicious someone is paranoid (and does not have a life) you are leaving your current project as is forever.

 

[yukiginger]

I too, think the issue is over the timely manner of preparing the wood in exclusion (B). You state that you have been working "slowly" on processing the logs and without further specificity we can't judge whether it is "too slow," nor does it really matter what we think, as only the code enforcer needs convincing one way or the other. (B) is about a stack of firewood, not a pile of logs, so I think the code enforcer is directing you to make it fit (B).

I would call them and explain that you are working on the pile and assure them you have a schedule to reduce it to firewood, which will be properly stacked. See what they say.

MarkG

 

[burntime]

Split like heck, the problem will go away...that is until the next stack gets dumped Make nice with the code guy, he is just following the rules. After he gets pestered by the neighbor a few times it will fall on deaf ears and you will be free to continue as you were.

 

[JustWood]

I too, think the issue is over the timely manner of preparing the wood in exclusion (B). You state that you have been working "slowly" on processing the logs and without further specificity we can't judge whether it is "too slow," nor does it really matter what we think, as only the code enforcer needs convincing one way or the other. (B) is about a stack of firewood, not a pile of logs, so I think the code enforcer is directing you to make it fit (B).

I would call them and explain that you are working on the pile and assure them you have a schedule to reduce it to firewood, which will be properly stacked. See what they say.

MarkG

I wood call them and tell them to " KISS MY AZZ "!! A pile of wood is a pile of wood regardless of shape or size. Just another Code NAZI public servant know it all flexing his muscles trying to push around the little guy who is trying to save a buck by burning wood.

Sorry but I'm a tax paying citizen of the USA not 1940 Nazi Germany.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Unless your CEO's operate differently there than here in NY, I would say someone pushed his buttons.

First, get a copy of the ENTIRE law so you know about any exceptions and possibly a definition of 'secure'.
Then, go see the CEO in his/her office and tell him thanks for the letter but you need an explaination. If you keep it cool, I bet he'll tell you the real problem.

But I have a few observations:

I used to live in a village, but now on 12+ acres. I would not be as thrilled with a wood burning neighbor in a village as out here, where the smoke just makes the bears sneeze. I thought I understood you to say you had 8 logs (more on the way) 10' and at leat some of them 36". Why are you buying 36" rounds? I hope they are giving you a great deal or something. How long will the wood from these logs last? 1 season? 2? I have seen people out in rural NY that get tri-ax log loads, and I wonder how many times that get hurt on their own wood pile. As I recall, Eric posted a horror story about a guy that got pinned by a log that rolled off a pile. IMO, it would be good to assure that your pile is 'secure', ESPECIALLY if you have a third of an acre and when that pile 'goes' it's going onto a neighbor.

But as others have said, you may find that at the bottom of this complaint is a 'nuisance complaint' . . . be it smoke, noise (you are an early Saturday riser and like to get your work done before the sun comes up and it gets hot out) or sight. Could even be the neighbors dog/cat has been getting ticks because of your pile. And of course, as someone said, if the neighbor is getting more frustrated everyday because he refuses to accept that the RE market has gone down as much as it has, he's probably blaming everyone he can, including your logs.

 

[Jay H]

Some of the trunks are quite big logs because i got them for free from a tree service guy i found on Freecycle. I seem to burn about 1.5 to 2 cords a winter so if you do the math with some ~10' trunks and huge widths, I have a ton of free firewood to burn that'll last me 3-4 winters. So yes, I haven't bothered to split like a maniac and cut wood all summer so I cut a bunch last spring when i got these and haven't cut anything til recently when I started to work on the wood pile some more. In fact, the date the letter is dated was the first day I started cutting this spring (last friday).

I called the CEO guy and hopefully will be able to clarify it when I talk to him. I hope they don't consider my toolshed, my trees, my fence to be litter, they've been there longer than I have as they came with the house when I bought it!

Sheesh.

Jay

 

[DiscoInferno]

My driveway is often filled with piles of wood (mostly already cut) as my whopping 1/6 acre doesn't offer a lot of temporary storage. My immediate neighbors all seem mildly amused at worst, so I haven't had any issues and living on a court we don't get a lot of traffic. But given the politics of this county I'll bet there's a code somewhere I'm violating.

 

[myzamboni]

The fact they are logs and not bucked/split is probably the reason. That and the fact that the are not secured (in the back yard).


A neighbor with too much time and too few hobbies sure doesn't help.

 

[savageactor7]

I agree with Lees...sounds like a neighbor complained and the codes enforcement officer checked it out...he did you a favor by highlighting the part that's it's OK to work on your woodpile. don't give it a 2nd thought....

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Free wood is almost always a good thing!!

We ALL like to have wood ahead, but I think you have a situation here. You have at least three years of firewood siting in your driveway, not to mention all the noise/chips to be created. Thats the reason many of us put furnaces outside, to keep the acutriments away from the house. Ramps up the WAF. Problem is now, with you living in the City, your neighbor has your pile nearly on his driveway too. So now his WAF is way down.

I'm one guy outta' 6 billion, but my opinion is, incessantly barking dogs and 3-year piles of logs don't belong in villages. Not sure of your situation, but I'd try to find a better place to have the wood dumped. You instantly bump up at least two differnt WAF's, plus you got 'a place to go' with the guys where the women folk won't know about how much beer you drink, the jokes you make about their asses, yada, yada, yada.

BTW. . .what kind of wood is this 36" stuff? Have you actually split any of it yet?

 

[burntime]

He is only talking about 6 cords of wood, takes up less space then a garage. The houses have got to be pretty close to really cause a problem.

 

[tradergordo]

Considering that the letter left for you really doesn't make any sense (since it does not specify what statute you are in violation of) I SUSPECT that the letter was actually intended NOT FOR YOU, but for the neighbor that called to make the complaint! The letter is showing the neighbor that you are NOT in violation of code...

 

[Nic36]

Sounds to me like all the guys are right on target with the neighbor thing. Also, as I think Tradergordo said, the inspector is probably trying to help you out by letting you know what the regulations are.

As a government official, I HATE handling these types of complaints. It is always an upset neighbor or a fired employee seeking revenge. When I receive these type of calls, I always like to ask if he or she has talked to the neighbor and tried to work it out. I am always told no.

If you are compelled to talk to the inspector, just be nice, and he should help you out all he can. I like to try and help people get into compliance. I don't get any satisfaction by giving anyone a hard time. I suspect most officials are the same way. I guess there are a few excpetions though.

Also, there is almost always a loophole to any set of regulations.

 

[cmonSTART]

How about having the neighbor and code enforcer come over and help buck, split, and stack???

 

[zendiagrams]

Any of you have problems with the town's munipality with your pile of logs? I have a small pile of about 8 logs (at least now) that I have been slowly working on bucking into rounds so I can split them. Some of these are huge 36" trunks so it takes me a bit.

Since I only have a 1/3 acre in NJ,

Jay

You live in NJ that is the problem =p

After 29 years in that god-forsake state I had to escape to PA 4 years ago.

/back to useful comments

 

[mtarbert]

Sounds like the town employee is doing what someone told him to do. Now he has do it and is off the hook....could be doing you a favor.

 

[Jay H]

I live in a lake community, my 1/3 acre is actually a large lot, most people are on 1/4 acre. My parents where I grew up had a 1/4 acre. I know most of my neighbors but I have a good idea who this is from. The neighbors aren't stacked like rowhouses, but this isn't farmcountry either.


The CEO wasn't in the office yesterday so I haven't gotten a call but supposedly he has my message so hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to him today.

I'll try to update this thread when I talk to the guy.

I like the suggestion of having my neighbors help cut and stack my wood, that'll be nice!

Jay

 

[mtarbert]

You just never know what your "Neighbors" are think when they close their doors. I had an elderly Lady who lived two doors from me that complained to city about my property until I hung a drop cloth on the side of my garage with this spray painter on it " Anna Long...mind your own business !"
And this was someone who I mowed her grass ....on ocassion and did other Neighborly things for

 

[wallis54806]

The more I read on this forum, the more I am glad I live in Northern Wisconsin. A complaint like that here would be biting the hand that feeds you, as our economy is based on wood and wood products.

 

[Henz]

is he fining you? or was it jsut the letter? Somebody may have complained, he investigated and then left you with the results. he may figure that you know the person that reported you and so by by leaving his message you can use that to wave it in front of the complainers face!

 

[tradergordo]

is he fining you? or was it jsut the letter? Somebody may have complained, he investigated and then left you with the results. he may figure that you know the person that reported you and so by by leaving his message you can use that to wave it in front of the complainers face!

Yea, that's what I was thinking. I know someone who lives in NJ who once got a similar letter - only it wasn't for a wood pile, they had a bunch of junk piled up in the front lawn (it was a real eye sore) - but the letter they got basically said this is the statute you are violating, this is how much time you have to fix the problem before you will be fined X dollars.

 

[Henz]

my gut feeling is that he actually is not breaking any ordinance whatsoever.