Lodi City Council passes fireworks restrictions
The Lodi City Council voted 4 to 1 to approve changes to the City’s Fireworks ordinance during its meeting on Wednesday. Councilman Bob Johnson was opposed.
Approved changes included the addition of as sunset provision for safe and sane fireworks and the use of a third party administrative procedure. Council’s vote also included the decision to keep the age for purchasing and possessing fireworks at 18.
The sunset rule will be effective immediately, and will limit the discharge of safe and sane fireworks to July 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The third party procedure will allow officers to issue an administrative citation based on the affidavit of a private citizen who observes a violation of the Lodi Municipal Code fireworks regulations.
City staff had originally recommended that the council amend the ordinance to mirror state law, which restricts the age for buying and possessing fireworks to 16. However council insisted that the age restriction be kept at 18.
Dennis Revell of Revell Communication, a public relations firm representing TNT Fireworks, asked the council to consider continuing the use safe and sane fireworks between the dates of June 28 through July 4 instead of implementing the sunset, and leave the age for purchasing fireworks at 18. They also asked the council to insert a social host definition and social host liability provision in the ordinance.
He argued that state-approved fireworks were not the problem, and that it was illegal fireworks that were creating the issue.
“If banning the use of state-approved fireworks permitted better enforcement of illegal fireworks, jurisdictions across this state would be free of illegal fireworks use at least 358 days a year,” he said. “We all know that’s not the case.”
Several members of the public spoke against dropping the purchasing age to 16 and implementing the sunset during the meeting Wednesday night.
Wendell Keiser, a member of the nonprofit Odd Fellows that will be selling fireworks as a fundraiser this year, asked the council to consider rejecting the sunset
because they raise funds for several charities within the city. He said cutting the number of days that fireworks can be discharged will make it harder for the nonprofits to sell fireworks. He also told the council he thought they should keep the purchasing age at 18.
Tony Amador, a member of the nonprofit Lions Club that also plans to sell fireworks, suggested that the council table the sunset and put together a task force to look into the issued that are being raised with fireworks. He said he was willing to apart of that task force. He told the council that he would like to see the purchasing age stay at 18 because he didn’t want his grandchildren purchasing fireworks.
Lodi Chamber President Pat Patrick said he didn’t think it was right to punish legal businesses for the acts of illegal ones, and he felt that’s what the council was doing by implementing the sunset.
“When we asked a legal business who’s following the letter of the law to go from seven days of operating their business down to one day and take an 86 percent reduction in their sells duration I would think that’s going to run them out of business,” Patrick said. “That’s going to create a void and the void will be filled with probably more illegal fireworks and people will drive to Stockton and buy safe an sane fireworks and bring them back and the nonprofits in another city will profit from it.”