Cambridge consults for new fireworks bylaw
Official says total ban, patrolling parks, higher penalties are all options
Cambridge’s fireworks bylaw will look different come summer.
To what extent is up to residents, city staff and council. Public consultation to review the bylaw — which closes at Engage Cambridge on March 15 — will likely help alter the current interim bylaw, said John Mattocks, the city’s manager of municipal bylaw compliance.
In August 2023, council approved an interim update to the bylaw, stating fireworks will continue to only be permitted on Victoria Day, Canada Day and Diwali on private property, but the two-day inclement weather window to set off fireworks after those days was removed. As well, fireworks will only be permitted between dusk and 11 p.m.
“I do anticipate that there'll be some sort of change. At this point, I don't know if it'll be as significant as a full ban or if it will just be introducing a few more restrictions,” Mattocks said.
Prior to the update, the fireworks bylaw had been in place since 2004, with amendments in 2015 and 2017 to include Diwali and reduce the inclement weather clause from seven days to two days.
The city is reviewing its bylaws as part of its municipal bylaw compliance strategy, and Mattocks said the close to 1,200 responses to the fireworks survey is one of the highest garnered for the city. He added the responses are spread across wards equally, with 88 per cent of people stating they are aware the city has a bylaw and 57 per cent believing the bylaw isn’t strong enough.
Concerns by residents include the impact on pets and wildlife, noise, safety and the environment.
Mattocks said there is also, currently, a 50/50 split on the question of a permanent fireworks ban. A permanent ban would eliminate the three allowable days and fireworks would only be permitted at a city-approved event. In the region, Woolwich has a fireworks ban.
While Mattocks couldn’t predict if council and staff have an appetite for a ban, he did say one of the potential options could involve an enforcement strategy, as, according to survey responses, residents feel enforcement is lacking.
An enforcement strategy could require staff to proactively patrol
parks and neighbourhoods on days when fireworks are allowed on private property, Mattocks said. That, however, would require overtime for the city’s 13 compliance officers and would have to be added to the city budget.
Since it is difficult to get staff to a complaint before people disperse, residents are needed to help with enforcement with video or photos, and they would be required to attend to court in case the evidence is challenged.
Mattocks noted the mobile security team, which was added to the 2024 budget to the tune of $197,000 and will operate 24 hours a day throughout the year, will be an asset to enforcement as they will be monitoring parks and city property.
“That's hopefully going to provide a bit of a deterrent as well, because they'll be a visible piece out there in some problem areas that we get,” he said.
Currently, fines for violating the fireworks bylaw ranges from $140 to $300, but Mattocks would like to see higher than normal penalties for offenders, as well as reoffenders.
Unlike the truck bylaw, he doesn’t see a period of adjustment for those who violate whatever fireworks bylaw is put in place.
“They would receive the penalty and not a warning for violations of the bylaw. That's just to help folks understand that these do create some problems for the community. There are safety concerns that the fire department have shared and that's why we would probably go that route,” he said, noting the most recent figures gathered from the Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal, from 2014 to 2018, is fireworks were blamed for 83 fires and $3.9 million in damages in the province.
“But again, council may suggest something else as well,” Mattocks added.
Regardless of what the bylaw becomes, Mattocks said the department has to streamline a way to handle and track complaints. They currently don’t have any statistics on how many complaints they field over weeks or months, as calls come in through a variety of avenues, including parks complaints and as nuisance complaints. The aim is to create an online portal, which would dispatch bylaw as soon as the complaint comes in.
“We're hoping to improve customer service and improve that response time. That'll be a little bit of work to do that,” he said.
A staff recommendation for the new bylaw is expected come to council in May or June.
The survey can be found at www.engagewr.ca/cambridgeca-fwreview. There will also be a community engagement open house on Wednesday at city hall, 50 Dickson St., in the Bowman Room, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and on March 9 at the Cambridge Centre, 355 Hespeler Rd., in the community booth from 12 to 3 p.m.