Springfield Police Chief Addresses Property Rights, Trash Burning, and Fire Risk Under Town Ordinance

Description: Springfield Police Chief Chris Griffin outlines the balance between private property rights and community responsibility, citing Town Ordinance Sec. 7-40, illegal trash burning, red flag fire dangers, sanitation violations, and potential fines under Colorado law. Read the Full Letter to the Community...

Chief Chris Griffin: Illegal Trash Burning, Fire Risk, and Sanitation Violations Threaten Springfield Neighborhoods

This is not an easy topic to address, but as usual, I'm going to do it anyway. Put your reading glasses on (if necessary), this is a long one. 

Conversations about property rights and community responsibility are uncomfortable. Some people will agree with this. Some will disagree. That is fine. Hard conversations do not go away just because we avoid them.

Let me be clear at the outset: I strongly support private property rights. If you own your property, it is yours. I own property here, that property is mine, nobody else's. That does not depend on how it looks or how it is maintained. Those rights are strongly protected by law and even under both the Colorado and United States Constitutions, and that protection matters.

At the same time, those same legal foundations have always recognized the authority of local governments to regulate for health and safety. Fire restrictions, sanitation rules, and garbage ordinances are not new concepts and they are not constitutional violations. They are longstanding exercises of municipal authority designed to PROTECT the broader community.

This is not about taking anyone’s property or limiting ownership. It is about regulating conduct that creates health hazards, fire risk, and direct impacts to neighboring properties.

Let’s not confuse constitutional protections with avoidable sanitation issues or preventable fire risk. Those are two very different things.

The Springfield Police Department and the Town of Springfield have received repeated complaints about household trash accumulating outside and then being burned within town limits. These two issues go hand in hand.

When garbage is allowed to pile up outside, it creates real sanitation problems. It attracts mice, cockroaches, flies, and other pests. It produces odor. It creates unsanitary conditions. It becomes windblown and ends up in neighboring yards and alleys. That costs your neighbors time picking up trash that is not theirs. It costs them money in pest control. It costs them the enjoyment of their own property.

Everyone imagines sitting on their back porch enjoying their surroundings. Nobody imagines sitting there watching a neighbor’s Dorito bag blow down the alley or dealing with mice that showed up because someone let garbage stack up.

Allowing garbage and waste to accumulate in a way that creates a sanitation issue is a violation of town ordinance. Household trash must be removed in a timely and safe manner, whether that means dumpsters, trash totes, or regular trips to the dump. Letting it sit outside with the plan to burn it or dispose of it later is not acceptable.

Town Ordinance Sec. 7-40 allows the burning of natural vegetation only during designated permit periods. That means leaves, pine needles, grass, tumbleweeds, and similar plant material. It does not authorize the burning of household trash, plastic, treated lumber, furniture, or mixed waste.

As of right now, there is no general burn permit in effect. The Town typically issues burn permits only a couple of times per year, during reduced fire danger and around seasonal yard debris peaks. Burning outside of those permitted windows carries a $125 fine and surcharge. Burning household garbage is not authorized during permit periods or outside of them.

Burning on red flag days deserves special mention. Red flag warnings are issued because fire conditions are ideal for rapid spread. Lighting a burn barrel under those conditions is a direct risk to neighboring homes and property. Disregarding this warning defies logic.

If you start a fire and it spreads to someone else’s property, that can meet the elements of arson under Colorado law, even if you did not intend for it to happen. Fire does not stay inside property lines.

This is not about being overbearing. It is about respect. What you do in your yard affects your neighbors’ health, their time, their money, and their ability to enjoy their own property.

Everyone has property rights. That includes your neighbors.

We can disagree and still respect each other. That is how communities function.

Springfield Chief of Police Chris Griffin

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