SEQUIM — Sequim City Council members finalized an ordinance to ban the sale of fireworks in city limits, effective October 2025.
Council members voted 5-0, with Mayor Brandon Janisse and council member Dan Butler excused, to approve the change through their consent agenda on Oct. 28. All seven council members previously approved the ban on Oct. 14.
Former council members banned the discharge of fireworks in city limits seven years ago.
Speaking during the public comment period on Oct. 28, Randall Cearley, a TNT Fireworks area manager, said he felt there was a lack of public notice and encouraged council members to follow other cities’ examples and do more outreach. In Port Orchard, he said, officials learned residents did not want to ban fireworks.
“It’s disheartening this has been pushed through so fast,” Cearley said, asking council members to vote again.
City residents favored banning the discharge of fireworks in a November 2016 advisory vote with 65.6 percent in favor (2,642 votes).
While council members then banned the discharge of fireworks within city limits, they did not ban the sales of fireworks to allow nonprofits to continue operating booths and raise funds.
Previous council members also directed staff to budget and start a public display on the Fourth of July at Carrie Blake Community Park, which won’t be affected by the latest vote.
Council member Kathy Downer, who brought a discussion forward in August, said Oct. 28 she brought the ban suggestion forward at the request of a citizen and a group’s request.
In August, she said it was misleading that residents wouldn’t be able to shoot fireworks while sales are allowed in the city.
In response to Cearley, Downer said she received “many, many emails from people asking us to stop the sale of fireworks” for various reasons.
“We discussed it at three separate meetings,” she said. “I don’t feel like it was rushed. I don’t feel like our minds were made up ahead of time.
“I think the citizens in Sequim know what’s going on,” Downer said. “I think the majority of them knew we were thinking about it and discussing it. It was in the newspaper, and people talk amongst themselves.
“I just wanted to say, I wouldn’t worry about anybody saying they didn’t know about it.”
Council member Vicki Lowe said she supported Downer.
“Our citizens are very different than those of (Port Orchard),” she said. “For us to have a different outcome is certainly reasonable.”
Leading up to an Oct. 14 public hearing, city staff received four emails in support of a ban and two against. A few residents spoke in person for a ban, too, with concerns about liability, fires, pet safety and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ban date
Since the ban won’t going into effect for a year, fireworks sales will be allowed one more summer from June 28-July 5. Sequim Municipal Code allows one booth per 1,500 city residents, and permits are given first preference to local nonprofits benefiting youth, and second preference to other local nonprofits.
The city had three booths this year with Sequim Vineyard at Walmart, Seattle International Christian Church at Safeway and Big Dog Fireworks at Hardy’s Market.
Clallam County allows fireworks to be discharged only on July 4 in unincorporated Sequim, unless there is a high fire danger. Jefferson County allows the discharge of fireworks from June 28-July 5 at various times.
The Sequim Police Department reported there were 26 fireworks complaints the last three years in city limits.
Eleven complaints were made on July 4, 2024, with some located in unincorporated Clallam County, one about the city’s fireworks show, and multiple calls from one resident with law enforcement either unable to find the fireworks or found to be in an allowed area.
Police report residents have voluntarily complied when officers have asked them to stop. They can offer verbal warnings, seize fireworks or charge a resident with a gross misdemeanor (a fine up to $5,000 or 364 days in jail) if complaints persist.
For July 4, 2024, Clallam County Fire District 3 reported all fireworks calls were in the city of Sequim and none in unincorporated Clallam County.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
