“It’s my property. I can do whatever I want,” some homeowners argue.

Maybe. Maybe not.

A public hearing about outdoor wood-burning furnaces was held by the Batesville Advisory Plan Commission and Batesville Board of Zoning Appeals Feb. 2 after Building Commissioner Tim Macyauski received six complaints about the devices.

At last month’s meeting he suggested an ordinance restricting or banning the furnace’s use might have to be created.

Susie Stirn, 109 Beech Grove Ave., who owns one, said, “I hope you will consider not banning them completely. It is a very good option for us" because of increasing heating costs. She said she paid 51 cents a unit for gas in 2000 and $1.78 last year.

“I’m not opposed to some kind of an ordinance,” perhaps specifying how to burn and what to burn. BBZA member Jim Hortemiller noted that burning green wood would cause smoke. Andy Stirn, Susie’s husband, reported, “Yes, I burned green wood at first and it was a big mistake.”

Later in the meeting, she reported, “When we first looked at trying to do something in an alternative way, we looked at a wood-burning stove in the basement, but it wouldn’t heat our whole house. We’re using a renewable fuel source,” not natural gas. “We thought we were being more responsible in going about it this way.” Stirn said an outdoor furnace is less dangerous than having a wood-burning one inside.

Mayor Rick Fledderman, a BAPC member who lives two houses away from the Stirns, said he has heard gripes about the furnace. “I don’t really like the smell.”

Brad Lunsford, 406 N. Main St., maintained that smoke is emanating from some local factories. “That’s doing more damage than four or five (outside) stoves already existing in Batesville.”

According to him, “My gas bill a year ago December was right at $300. It would have been double this year" without the mild weather. “That’s my mortgage payment – $600 a month is not affordable.”

Lunsford added, “I don’t believe a ban is fair ... I’d like to be able to keep my stove, especially with the amount of money I spent.”

When President David Raver asked for people against wood-burning furnaces to speak, no one did. That frustrated Macyauski, who wanted the panels to hear both sides of the issue.

BBZA member Jay Varner asked the owners if manufacturers gave them any guidelines. Lunsford said if the furnace was located within 50 feet of a neighbor’s dwelling, the smoke stack should be equivalent in height to the eave line. The building commissioner said ordinances from other towns specify heights of about 20 to 22 feet.

BAPC member Chris Fairchild asked, “How tall are your stacks?” Andy Stirn answered, “Eleven feet, 7 inches.” Lunsford’s stack is 13 feet tall.

Raver wondered if the furnace also was used to heat water. Susie Stirn said theirs did. Neither family was planning to use the furnaces all year.