By Douglas Buell / The Arlington Times
ARLINGTON — Arlington residents will get to have their say this fall on whether to ban all fireworks citywide.
The City Council recently voted to put an advisory vote on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
The “yes-no” ballot measure will read: “Should the City Council ban the possession, sale and discharge of all consumer fireworks within the City of Arlington?”
The advisory vote is nonbinding, but would ultimately help guide the council in further discussions whether to outlaw fireworks, add more restrictions to existing fireworks laws or leave them alone.
At the same time, Snohomish County is moving ahead with an advisory vote that would ban the sale, possession and discharge of fireworks in unincorporated areas.
Marysville already bans fireworks in that city, a move that followed an advisory vote.
Arlington is seeking volunteers to write the pro and con statements for the measure, which would be printed in the voters guide. Committees are allowed to have up to three members.
Council members last month discussed the impact that illegal and “safe and sane” fireworks activity has on and around the Fourth of July holiday, to families and neighborhoods that use fireworks for their own celebrations, and the pressure the activity puts on public safety resources.
State law requires any local ordinance that is stricter than state law to have a one-year waiting period before it takes effect. If the council adopted a new law June 15, 2020, the last meeting before July 4, it would not take effect until June 2021.
This story originally appeared in The Arlington Times, a sibling paper to The Herald.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
