Gig Harbor moves a step closer to ‘only on the Fourth’ fireworks; some oppose ban
.
Gig Harbor fireworks fans may have only one more year to enjoy an extended week of pyrotechnics around the July 4th holiday.
At the Gig Harbor city council meeting on April 12, the council debated a potential ordinance that would limit fireworks to Independence Day.
The ordinance would mandate that “no person shall use or discharge any fireworks within the corporate limits of Gig Harbor except between the hours of 9 a.m. and midnight on July 4.” If adopted at the next council meeting on April 26, the new ordinance would take effect for the 2022 holiday season.
Police chief Kelly Busey cautioned the council that his department might not immediately be able to handle an expected increase in calls over fireworks.
“I just want to make the council aware that any change might put the police department in a position where we might not be able to meet expectations,” Busey said. “It would be a new tool and we would expect a big rise in calls to respond to reports of fireworks use in the days that would be prohibited.”
Busey said the department will always respond to reports of illegal fireworks, though he expected there would be a “notable increase in call volumes to a crime that is not easily enforceable” as violators may have already left the scene.
“We’re willing to enforce anything the council puts forth, but I just ask you to take into account the police department might not be able to meet initial expectations, certainly in the first couple years,” the chief said.
Several commenting citizens made the same point. One of them was Randy Curley, who said he wasn’t a Gig Harbor resident but said he had a vested interest in the issue as the area manager for the business TNT Fireworks.
“Changing the days would create confusion but it would not affect change,” Curley said. “Pierce County would not follow what Gig Harbor would be doing. People would be setting fireworks off in the county but not in the city. This would not stop people from lighting fireworks inside the city limits; it would only create criminals.”
Other cities with bans
Fireworks are currently banned in Fircrest, JBLM, Ruston, Steilacoom, and Tacoma, according to the county website. Those who spoke in support of the tightening the fireworks window in Gig Harbor said it could help those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
John Johnson, the Gig Harbor fire district assistant chief for safety & emergency preparedness, said fireworks can also cause serious property damage.
“A lot of people don’t see the things we see as first-responders,” Johnson said. “We’ve responded to multiple large brush fires on the fourth of July in multiple years.”
Johnson said this taxes resources of the department and increases the call volume.
Council member Jim Franich said he opposed the ordinance in its current form and suggested an alternative.
“For me personally, I think a good compromise would be to have discharge be allowed on the Fourth of July and the Saturday following the Fourth of July, so people can have their celebrations over the weekend,” Franich said. “I don’t want to turn those people into criminals.”
Council member Le Rodenberg said he sees a potential loss of revenue for nonprofits that sell fireworks and said he wouldn’t support the restriction.
Touched by reasons
Council member Jeni Woock said she was “especially touched” by the reasons people wanted to limit fireworks to one day.
“They care about veterans, they care about those affected by PTSD,” Woock said.
Council member Bob Himes said he respects those concerns being raised, but that he has “taken to heart” concerns about how it would be enforced. Himes said the council should find out more about how other cities had rolled out similar ordinances before proceeding ahead with a second reading.
Council member Robyn Denson said her priority was protecting the health of citizens and that fireworks should be confined to one day regardless of whether enforcement can ever be “100 percent.”
“Of course we can’t be everywhere, we can’t enforce everything. But by establishing this as our norm, we’re showing our citizens that we care about their health and safety,” Denson said. “I think this is a really serious issue for people.”
Council member and mayoral candidate Tracie Markley expressed her support for looking for more information.
“I would support finding out more information from the cities that have gone to one day about how they have enforced that,” Markley said. “I hope we don’t have to make a final decision in two weeks if we don’t have all the data that we need to be comfortable with this.”
The council ultimately did not direct city staff to look at how other cities handle fireworks, though Markley said council members should reach out to other cities directly themselves.
The council will vote on the change at the next council meeting on April 26.
Covid rollback
Mayor Kit Kuhn also addressed the recent return of Pierce County to Phase 2 in the reopening phases. Effective Friday, businesses such as restaurants, gyms, retail stores and movie theaters must reduce capacity from 50 percent to 25 percent occupancy, among other rules.
“It was devastating news to hear today about Pierce County rolling back Friday to Phase 2. Devastating that the numbers are so high and that we are not staying in our current phase,” Kuhn said.
Kuhn said he had been pursuing potential options to potentially stay in Phase 3 in the hope the city could be allowed to remain separate from the rest of the county.
“I spoke to the representative for the Governor’s office about the possibility that Gig Harbor could stay in Phase 3 like our neighbor Port Orchard,” Kuhn said. “I then had a meeting with Dr. Chen of Pierce County Health Department about those possibilities.”
Kuhn acknowledged that the current numbers of covid cases are so high “that it does not look good for this to occur.”
“I will keep trying and taking steps to attempt to convince the governor,” Kuhn said. “But it really is up to the people as to when the numbers will go down. Each person has to be responsible so we all as a community and county can bring the numbers down to go on with our lives.”
In other business, the Gig Harbor city council:
Heard a year-end report from the Skansie Brothers Netshed Foundation, which discussed the continued work being undertaken as well as plans for future events. The netshed was closed to visitors in 2020 due to the pandemic, though this allowed the group to work on improvements, such as improving storage capabilities.
Larson gave an update on the YMCA sports facility project, saying the city is close to reaching an agreement to construct multi-purpose lighted turf fields. Due to the pandemic, he said, that it may take until 2023 to acquire additional funding with completion by December 2024.
Recognized volunteers serving on boards and commissions with an official proclamation thanking them for their work.
