City councillors in Saskatoon defeated a bylaw amendment that would have seen people with backyard wood-burning fire pits have to photograph and register them.
"We've been going down the wrong path," said Coun. Darren Hill, who spoke against the registry.
Councillor after councillor raised issues with the proposal, touching on everything from who would enforce the registry to what it would actually cost to implement.
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Coun. Troy Davies said he was concerned the city would get dragged into adjudicating something that should properly be addressed between neighbours. He suggested that, in some cases, if it wasn't neighbours disputing smoke from a fire pit "it would be noise issues."
Other councillors quizzed Fire Chief Morgan Hackl on the true costs. Hackl said that the fire department could likely manage and enforce the registry with its existing staff and resources.
However, he backtracked slightly on that assessment when he admitted that the department has no real idea how many fire pits there are in the city.
Coun. Bev Dubois said the challenge with the entire issue is finding the balance between a person's right to feel safe and healthy with a fear of being over-governed.
Councillors agreed to an amendment on the bylaw proper that would see the proposed window for backyard burning be expanded to 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., instead of starting at 5 p.m.
The bylaw comes back before council in April.
