L'affaire fire pit appears to have been peacefully resolved--the mostly-popular fire pits will be allowed to stay on LA and OC beaches, more or less. The LA County Board of Supes had written a letter (sternly-worded, we hope) telling the South Coast Air Quality Management District to mind its own beeswax and leave the pits that dot the region's beaches alone. Specifically, they said decisions about the fire pits should be left up to local communities, says the Daily Breeze. And the AQMD appears to have listened--an official yesterday said they've developed "'an alternative proposal' ... that would continue to allow bonfires on the region's beaches so long as certain measures were undertaken by June, 2014, to minimize the known harmful effects of burning wood," according to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's website. This all started when residents in Newport Beach tried to get the rings near their homes removed; the Coastal Commission looked likely to deny the request, but then AQMD got involved and looked set to ban them throughout LA and Orange Counties because of their polluting effects. (And then one board member likened the fires to carpet bombing in Vietnam, but we digress.) Many critics, including Supervisor Don Knabe, pointed out that some of the rings in question are near LAX, oil refineries, and a sewage treatment plant; beach fire smoke is unlikely to add much to that polluted mess. Now AQMD says it agrees and that "the latest proposal would take a more nuanced beach-by-beach approach based on such things as topography, wind and proximity to homes."
· Lowering the heat on bonfire dispute [ZY]
· Fire Pit Archives [Curbed LA]
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