By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — Residents who engage in risky behavior while using backyard fire pits could have their permits suspended or revoked if a proposed ordinance change passes in Wausau.
The city’s public health and safety committee on Monday will review the proposed change, which focuses on fires that endanger the safety of surrounding residents or create a risk of fire to surrounding properties. The current permits cost $30 and are valid for five years.
Under the proposal, where a permit has been revoked, the permit holder would be required to wait two years for another permit. Permits would not be issued related to any property that has been the subject of a revoked permit for two years unless in cases of a change of ownership or tenancy, according to city documents. Anyone with two revocations would be permanently banned from receiving a new permit.
The rewritten rules would also change the wording from restricting fires that are a “nuisance” to fires that are a safety concern, as a way to avoid confusion over how to interpret the ordinance.
The public health and safety committee meets at 5:15 p.m. Monday at City Hall. The decision is subject to full council approval.
