Florida council official tells resident his BBQ smoke ‘cannot leave the

Scotty Jordan uploaded a video on July 22 to Facebook that he says shows Pinellas County environmental specialist Joe Graham issuing a warning to Jordan and a friend for violating the country’s air quality law.

There have been 15 smoke and odor complaints about the property since September, according to the release.

“I’m only here because of the odor”.

Apparently, if you’re having a barbecue in Pinellas County Florida, people better not be able to tell from the smell if they are standing beyond your property line.

Graham also says that in order to avoid a warning, the men should first check wind patterns before starting to barbecue-or upgrade their equipment to a newer model designed to curtail smoke and odors.

“Everybody else cooks out around here, and nobody harasses them”, argues Dwayne Matt, a resident of Alcola Way South, off 54th Avenue South in St. Petersburg.

The video had been viewed over half a million times on YouTube by Sunday. And the incident has become a rallying cry for both conservative bloggers who see government bureaucracy run amok, and African-American activists denouncing the confrontation as harassment.

Graham proceeds to pull out his handbook and informs the men that neighbors are allowed to call in if they have concerns about barbecue smoke.

In the video, Jordan tells Graham that it is that one particular neighbor that is stirring up the trouble and has an agenda against Jordan’s grilling.

“In June of this year, in an attempt to address the numerous complaints and educate the homeowner, the county mailed an advisory letter to the property owner which detailed the county and state regulations regarding open burning. In addition, the letter provided suggestions which would minimize the impact of smoke and odor on neighbors from grilling activities”.

However, in the release, the county says the inspector was not there to regulate barbecue grilling. Pinellas County has a 24 hour hotline for residents to call in an emergency air quality complaint.

He adds that he has taken photographs of the smoke adding: “I can smell it, I can smell it right now, but I’m on your property”.