Council will consider fireworks crackdown
By Terry Murry on Monday, July 18th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – The Walla Walla City Council will consider a proposed ordinance prohibiting fireworks on a future active agenda for discussion and potential action. Following several public comments at last week’s city council meeting concerning illegal firework use, Mayor Tom Scribner addressed the issue of fireworks by acknowledging that there’s those who want them and those who don’t.
In what Scribner called “sticking his neck out,” he asked that the issue of fireworks be put on the active agenda with this question in mind, “Do you allow them, or do you prohibit them? Sale and use.”
By putting the issue on a future active agenda, Scribner said everyone will have public knowledge and have an opportunity to comment. Furthermore, Scribner asked City Attorney Tim Donaldson to prepare a proposed ordinance for council to consider “that would prohibit the sale and use of fireworks in Walla Walla.”
“I’m not saying I’m going to vote necessarily yes or not, but I think it’s time to address the issue,” Scribner said.
Scribner originally asked the issue of fireworks be brought up on an active agenda at the second city council meeting in August, but council member Ted Koehler asked for more time to allow city staff to collect information on other what other cities in Washington have done, if any, regarding prohibiting fireworks.
Council member Rick Eskil also asked for clarity in the city’s current restrictions on fireworks. Walla Walla Fire Chief Bob Yancey said that any kind of firework that makes noise or travels more than 20 feet off the ground or 20 feet in diameter is prohibited in the city limits. Yancey pointed out the city’s restrictions are different from what the state restricts.
“If we’re changing our fireworks ordinance, I think we need to look at how we enforce the ordinance we already have in place,” Eskil said.
City Attorney Tim Donaldson reminded the council that Washington state law prohibits a new ordinance from taking effect for one full year from its date of passage.
A new fireworks ordinance could go into effect earlier than July 4, 2024, if it is passed more than a year before that date. For example, if an ordinance is passed in November, 2022, it will go into effect in November, 2023, and will be in effect for New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2023.
