Outdoor wood burning furnaces may be utilized by rural
landowners for a variety of reasons, including as a supplementary
heat source. Neighbouring landowners may object to smoke emanating
from such facilities interfering with their use and enjoyment of
their own properties. How are these competing interests
reconciled?
In a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court, the court
considered a request from a municipality to permanently restrain
operation of an outdoor wood burning furnace on the basis that it
contravened a municipal by-law prohibiting "emissions of air
contaminants from any outdoor wood burning appliance to the outdoor
atmosphere that unreasonably interferes with the normal enjoyment
of human life and property". The owner of the furnace had
operated it for approximately 10 years to provide heat and water
for his residence. Adjacent downwind neighbours complained of
impacts to their property use. A neighbour's evidence as
summarized by the trial judge
