UPDATED: Voters Turn Down Issue 64 in Twinsburg

Story updated: Nov. 9 at 9:15 a.m.

Twinsburg voters rejected Issue 64, the proposed zoning amendment banning outdoor wood burning furnaces, on Tuesday.

With all precincts reporting, the ban on outdoor furnaces failed, 2,983 votes (52 percent) to 2,734 (48 percent), according to unofficial results from the Summit County Board of Elections.

Outdoor wood boilers are free-standing wood-burning devices that heat water, which is then pumped to one or more structures to provide heat. They are similar in size to a small backyard shed.

Planning commission approved the ban earlier in the year, putting it on the November ballot.

Planning Director Larry Finch said the smoke created by the boilers can cause air pollution and drifting smoke can become a nuisance to neighborhoods .

Finch said so far there is only one outdoor furnace he is aware of.

Many communities around the nation have either banned or put heavy restrictions on outdoor furnaces because of the pollution they can produce by  burning items like trash or rubber. There are no regulations in Ohio, but communities can decide what restrictions they put in place.

Voters also decided against both city charter amendments.

Issue 62 had 2,724 votes against (54 percent) to 2,276 votes for (46 percent) while Issue 63 had 2,659 votes against (50.37 percent) and 2,620 votes for (49.63 percent).

Issue 62 was a charter amendment, making police and fire chiefs unclassified positions and eliminating positions that no longer exist. Issue 63, also a charter amendment, would have allowed the appointing of all positions in the city's safety forces below chief through the Civil Service.

However, despite the outcome on both charter amendments, the votes will not stand because proper notification of the ballot issues was not given.

According to Ohio Revised Code Section 731.211 residents must be notified of proposed charter amendments either through the mail or published in a newspaper of general circulation with the full text of the proposed amendment.

City Council President Gary Sorace said if the amendments were approved by voters, council would plan on challenging the vote and put it on the next election ballot properly.