Long Beach Fire Chief DuRee to City Council: "No Safe Or Sane Way For Consumers To Use Fireworks," Urges Keeping City's Fireworks Ban "Due To Risk Of Injury and Property Damage, Adverse Impacts To Quality Of Life For Residents, Environment & City Services"; Read Full Report
Says it's believed City's costs for police, fire, public works & parks and rec services would exceed tax revenue from items' sales; Council will hear report Feb. 18
(Feb. 16, 2014) -- In a report scheduled for present ion to the Long Beach City Council on Feb. 18, Long Beach Fire Chief Mike DuRee says there is "no safe or sane way for consumers to use fireworks" and urges the Council to continue LB's fireworks ban "due to the risk of injury and property damage, adverse impacts to quality of life for residents, environment and City services."
In the report (full text below), Chief DuRee says it's believed that the city's costs for police, fire, public works and parks and rec services would exceed city tax revenue from sale of the items. "No coastal city in Los Angeles or Orange County permits the sale of State-approved fireworks," Chief DuRee writes in the agendized report, continuing:
Coastal cities, such as Long Beach, attract many visitors to their shores each Independence Day. Even though fireworks are prohibited on the beachfront, it is very difficult with existing staff to prevent their discharge on the shores. This creates potentially dangerous conditions on crowded beaches at night, contributes to litter, and exposes ocean waters to toxic substances found in fireworks. Legalizing fireworks in Long Beach will exacerbate this problem...
Many Long Beach residents consider the noise produced by fireworks to be a nuisance and many pet owners find the noise to be traumatic for their pets...Animal Care Services [city's animal control agency] experiences increased call volumes for missing and injured pets during periods of fireworks activity.
Even with the current ban on fireworks in Long Beach, fire and police services are already stretched on the 4th of July, and it is not possible to respond to all requests for service. Legalizing the sale and use of fireworks in Long Beach will lead to a sharp increase in calls for service, most of which will be unenforceable.
The report indicates that city staff tentatively proposes a $1,500 fee per fireworks stand, which it says could produce $60,000 in new revenue [if there were forty fireworks stands] which it says "would only cover actual costs associated with permitting and inspection." The report says LB's current city sales tax (1%) could "in theory" result in $14,000-$15,000 in new revenue but says it is "more likely in the range of $8,000-$9,000 in total." The report says "it is believed that the city's costs for increased police and fire response, as well as Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Marine staffing for clean-up activities, would exceed the tax revenue generated from sales."
LBREPORT.com provides the report's full text below.
The agendized report, presented as a "receive and file" informational item, stems from a Jan. 7 agendized proposal by Councilman Al Austin to put an advisory (non-binding) measure on the April ballot, asking voters if the Council should enact an ordinance allowing the sale, possession and use of "safe and sane" fireworks in Long Beach. At the time, Fire Chief DuRee voiced strong opposition to lifting the city's current ban; Police Chief McDonnell said such a measure would likely place increased demands on already-stretched police resources; and the Council voted 9-0 to request within 30 days the now-resulting city staff report.
State law allows cities to permit the sale, possession and use by those over the age of 16 of certain fireworks, approved by the state's Fire Marshal, that don't go up in the air, explode or move on the ground in an uncontrolled way (items including cones, sparklers, smoke balls and spinners.) The report says the items, marketed as "safe and sane," are currently allowed in 39 L.A. County cities and 8 OC cities and acknowledges their sale provides a fundraising mechanism for some non-profit groups. Long Beach is among cities banning all fireworks.
If Long Beach were to lift its ban on "safe and sane" fireworks, it would become the largest city in Los Angeles County to do so. Lakewood and Compton allowing sale of the items...which not infrequently end up being used by residents and visitors in Long Beach.
The report indicates the Council has until March 7 to put a measure on the June 3, 2014 ballot. By LBREPORT.com's unofficial reckoning, the Council has only one more regularly scheduled meeting date, March 4, to do so [although a Council majority could schedule a special meeting on another date if it wishes.] Councilman Austin's original agendized item proposed an April 2014 ballot measure, leaving the Council with time to lift the city's longtime fireworks ban and enable the sale, possession and use of "safe and sane" fireworks in time for the 4th of July.
At the Jan. 7 Council session, a representative of TNT Fireworks testified that multiple cities allow the sales which are often used as fundraisers for sports teams and civic groups.
Earlier at the same meeting, Mayor Foster commented that in his view, allowing fireworks sales in Long Beach seemed to him not to be safe and sane but unsafe and insane. He added that if Councilman Austin felt strongly about the issue, he could agendize the issue for an up or down enacting vote without the cost of an advisory election measure.
