The Exeter Town Council has approved an ordinance regulating the use of outdoor wood furnaces. Good for them, we say. The final product of their labor - which is months in the making - seems to be a reasonable compromise, a fair middle ground.

Although members of the state legislature have indicated there is talk on Smith Hill about statewide regulations and buzz that the DEM and EPA are looking at the issue, there is little reason to believe that such restrictions will come down the line any time soon.

Locally,  people spoke passionately on both sides of the debate during the recent public hearings and it’s a given that not everybody is going to be happy with the new ordinance.

This ordinance does not require property owners who already have units to relocate them to their backyards, 100 feet from their lot lines so residents already getting smoked-out by their neighbors’ pre-existing units might still have trouble when the wind blows too hard in the wrong direction.

However, this ordinance does empower them to call the zoning inspector if they suspect harmful materials (now officially known as ‘prohibited fuels’) are being burned in a nearby unit.

While there was debate until the very end over restricting the use of these units to a limited heating season, the council ultimately chose to allow outdoor wood furnaces to run year-round. On Monday, one woman said she just wanted to be able to sleep with her windows open in the summer. While the council was empathetic, they recognized that these units are an “economical alternative to conventional heating systems” and that many people use them 365 days a year to heat their homes, pools and outbuildings.

That’s where that whole “neighborly”  business comes in and where you’d hope people who have these units - which can be smokey and smelly - would use a little consideration for the folks around them. Yes, you have a right to use one of these units but your neighbors have a right to breathe clean air. That’s not something the council can put in an ordinance.

But the notion that this ordinance is the first step toward banning wood burning altogether in the town of Exeter doesn’t hold water. Honestly - this is Exeter after all.