EVERETT — The presidential contest might not be the only explosive proposition on the Nov. 8 ballot, at least if you live in unincorporated Snohomish County.
Some elected officials think it’s time to ask about banning fireworks.
On Monday, the County Council is set to discuss an advisory measure to pose that question to voters. It’s scheduled during the council’s 10:30 a.m. meeting.
If a majority of council members agree, the question would appear on fall ballots.
Council Chairman Terry Ryan, of Mill Creek, suggested the idea in late June, as his colleagues discussed other fireworks restrictions. He brought up the proposal the same day the council voted to give the county fire marshal the power to ban the use of fireworks in unincorporated areas during times of extreme drought, starting next year.
The draft ballot proposition would ask voters about prohibiting selling, possessing or discharging fireworks. It would apply to the more than 40 percent of the county’s 772,860 inhabitants who live outside of city limits, based on this year’s state population estimates. Some of those people live in areas that are already off limits because they’re considered agricultural or timber lands.
Council members could impose the restriction later, if voters favor it. No ban could take effect before 2018.
For the advisory vote to appear on November ballots, the council would have to act by Aug. 2. That would leave little time to draft statements on both sides of the issue.
Councilman Hans Dunshee, of Snohomish, has backed a separate proposal modeled after the county’s no-shooting zones to allow people to create neighborhood-specific fireworks bans by signature. There likely will be a hearing on that issue in August.
The county only allows people to set off fireworks on July 4. There’s an outright prohibition on fireworks in the cities of Edmonds, Everett, Gold Bar, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo and Woodway. New bans are set to take effect in 2017 for Marysville and Brier, where a majority of voters showed support during advisory votes last fall.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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