SEBASTIAN — Conservationist and Scrub Jay habitat owner Jane Schnee will not be allowed to have a controlled burn on her Bristol-Barber property, the Sebastian City Council decided Wednesday evening after Schnee made a second request for the burn on the 10.6-acre site.
Schnee had first come before the council June 12 with a representative of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service, seeking permission, as per city ordinance, to conduct an open burn to improve the scrub jay habitat.
The council did not approve her request at that time, instead asking she provide “additional information and a more formal burn plan.”
Schnee returned to council Aug. 28, additional paperwork in hand, including a detailed Florida Forest Service Prescribed Burn Plan document and an e-mail from Indian River County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Brian Burkeen stating that the Fire Department would have a presence on site during the burn, barring an unforeseen emergency.
Park Place also fronts on Barber Street, directly across from Schnee’s triangular acreage and, with few exceptions, the assembled residents had come to voice strong opposition to the request, health issues overwhelmingly their major concern.
When Schnee had repeated her request that the Sebastian City Council approve the burn, Regina Chesser also spoke in favor of it, pointing out that the Florida Forestry Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other such agencies consider controlled burns necessary to the health plants and animals in Florida forest and scrub land.
She also noted that there is more fire danger if such acreage is left to grow uncontrolled, with more fuel available for accidental fires and lightning strikes.
Park Place residents, however, raised concerns about their own health and safety.
Bob Allgor, whose wife has breathing issues, told Council there are many residents of Park Place who have similar problems, and many are on oxygen.
“I’d like these two little Scrub Jays to live happily ever after but there is a problem,” he said. “The smoke does whatever it feels like. The birds, God bless ‘em, can go somewhere else.” Other residents spoke of the smell, the charred land, the soot, plummeting property values and the danger from random sparks.
Schnee wanted to respond to the residents’ concerns but because she had made a detailed presentation the first time around, she was not allowed to.
The Sebastian City Council voted 4-0 to deny the request. Mayor Bob McPartlan was absent.
“I’m disappointed with the vote,” Schnee said. “I was shocked. And it’s not just me who wanted this like people think. Fish and Wildlife encouraged me. It really does improve the habitat, it helps everything – fire safety, too.”
