PORT ANGELES — The City Council will begin the process of possibly banning the sale and discharge of consumer fireworks in 2016 when it meets tonight.
Port Angeles City Council members will conduct their first reading and a public hearing on a fireworks ban that would apply to all but licensed, public fireworks displays and “small firework devices” within the city limit at their meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
Small firework devices include unregulated “poppers” that are sold in stores, but not any devices that can be purchased at fireworks stands, Fire Chief Ken Dubuc said Friday.
The public hearing will be continued to the regular March 3 council meeting and be followed by possible passage.
“Numerous citizens state that their neighborhoods have, for days surrounding the Fourth of July, become ‘war zones,’” Dubuc said in a report to the City Council.
“Many residents have come forward reporting that they are afraid to leave their homes for fear that [their homes] will catch fire, while others report that they feel compelled to leave their homes because the noise is so disturbing.
“Residents who are unable to leave report that they endure days of hardship and discomfort.”
The volume of calls about the illegal discharge of fireworks within the city limit makes the present law difficult to enforce, Dubuc said in his report.
Fireworks are now allowed within the city limits only from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
Illegal use of fireworks — either those too dangerous to be legal or those set off before 9 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July — is a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine.
A change in the law would take effect a year after passage.
“I need to hear some discussion regarding enforcement capabilities, but I certainly think there is a problem with the level of fireworks around here,” Mayor Dan Di Guilio said Friday.
“It’s gotten worse and worse.
The proposed ban has been spearheaded by a group calling itself Safer 4th of July, whose members have prompted an outpouring of concerns expressed by citizens at recent council meetings.
Those comments show, Di Guilio said, that “it’s gotten to the point where it’s dangerous at times.”
Bans have proven effective in jurisdictions where fireworks are prohibited, but it takes time, Di Guilio said.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” he added.
Dubuc said Friday that the proposed ordinance is largely based on a prohibition in Lacey, adding that 20 to 30 ordinances were reviewed.
In Port Angeles, illegal use of fireworks — either those too explosive to be legal or those set off before 9 a.m. or after 11 p.m. July Fourth — is a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine.
A change in the law can go into effect a year after passage.
If the council enacts a ban, Port Angeles would follow Port Townsend as the second city on the North Olympic Peninsula to outlaw the consumer use of fireworks.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
