Voters in Marysville and Brier get a chance this election to say whether they want to see fireworks banned in their communities.
In each city, an advisory measure on the Nov. 3 ballot asks if an ordinance should be enacted to bar sale and use of legal fireworks year-round. The results are nonbinding and won’t change any laws but will give leaders the perspective of many of their residents.
“If the community said, ‘We don’t want fireworks anymore’, we would listen to them,” Brier City Councilwoman Kerin Steele said.
State law allows the sale of legal fireworks for use July 4 and New Year’s Eve up until 1 a.m. Jan. 1. But it also lets cities and counties enact bans within the boundaries of their jurisdiction.
Everett, Edmonds, Gold Bar, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace and Mukilteo have done so, according to data compiled by the Washington State Patrol. Lynnwood is the most recent to act.
In Marysville, sales of fireworks are now allowed from June 28 through July 4. Fireworks can only be set off between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. July 4.
Proposition 1 on the Nov. 3 ballot asks if the Marysville council should “prohibit the possession, sale and discharge” of fireworks within city limits.
Talk of a ban is a polarizing subject in Marysville.
The council started discussing a ban in 2014. Despite numerous meetings, a committee that included council members, residents and police representatives could not come to a consensus. An unscientific online survey showed 51 percent of city residents favor fireworks.
In the voters pamphlet, resident Andrea Vernon wrote a statement urging a “yes” vote on Proposition 1 while no one filed a statement in opposition.
“Prohibiting fireworks in the City of Marysville is the conscientious and considerate thing to do,” she wrote.
Each year fireworks are the cause of unintentional but damaging fires and serious injuries, she noted. And, for people suffering post traumatic stress disorder, the detonation of fireworks can trigger panic attacks, hallucinations and other symptoms, she argues.
“Please consider the risks and benefits associated with fireworks. Are the few minutes of entertainment fireworks provide really worth risking fire and serious injury?” she wrote. “Furthermore, should we really be celebrating our nation’s independence in a way that causes substantial distress for many of our veterans?”
Fireworks laws in Brier are similar to Marysville with sales allowed from June 28 through July 4 and setting them off July 4. They cannot be set off New Year’s Eve.
Brier’s ballot measure — also Proposition 1 — is worded slightly different. It asks if the council should ban the “sale and discharge of all types of fireworks in the city at all times during the year.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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