Residents seek fireworks crackdown
Council members not surprised by concerns, look forward to community conversation
Eighteenth Avenue resident Ramona Giroux told Longmont City Council members Tuesday night that her Garden Acres Park neighborhood “was a war zone on the Fourth of July.”
Giroux was one of several people who showed up at the council’s Tuesday open forum meeting to complain about the use of illegal fireworks, not only on the Fourth but on the nights leading up to and following the holiday.
She said that while some fireworks advocates may argue that they’re just setting off fireworks in traditional celebrations of Independence Day, the lawbreakers “are infringing on my freedoms,” as well as her health and safety and that of their neighbors.
Atwood Street resident Patti Meehan told the Council that the problem isn’t limited to the Fourth of July. She said it happens before, during and after other holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving and that what she experienced around this year’s Fourth of July was “over the top.”
Meehan said, “I really thought that someone was bombing our neighborhood.”
Alpine Street resident Kathleen Catanach suggested that Longmont consider adapting or adopting the fireworks-restrictions enforcement practices she said she’d found in researching other Colorado communities’ policies.
Many local governments have
dedicated phone lines that residents can use to report illegal fireworks, Catanach said. She particularly cited efforts by Fort Collins, a city she said bans fireworks entirely and doesn’t even allow the non-exploding, non-rocketing devices permitted in Longmont, as well as Fort Collins’ procedures for publicizing its ban.
At Tuesday night’s forum, City Council members expressed sympathy about the illegal-fireworks foes’ objections to what those speakers criticized as inadequate enforcement efforts in Longmont.
Council members did not make any immediate commitments to how the city might change its enforcement or take other steps to reduce fireworks complaints and incidents, but the council had already voted during a July 13 study session to direct city staff to organize a special future forum or some other kind of “community conversation” about the issues.
“It was not a surprise that we heard a number of concerns about fireworks, both legal and illegal,” Councilman Tim Waters said in a Wednesday email.
“I appreciated hearing actionable suggestions from one group of residents who shared what they have learned from other northern Colorado municipalities,” Waters said. “I assume our management and public safety teams will follow up on what was shared and present options to Council at an appropriate time.”
Councilwoman Marcia Martin wrote in a Wednesday email that she hoped the upcoming community conversation could be used to organize the residents who took strong stands and had already researched other enforcement methods.
“People need to understand that both freedom and community membership mean shouldering a certain amount of responsibility,” she wrote. “Just alerting the police but being unwilling to identify themselves and give evidence isn’t enough. Due process still matters, and I hope none of us really want that to change.”
Martin continued, suggesting that if someone does not want to ruin their relationship with their neighbor by reporting them to police, they should act ahead of time and mention to their neighbor that both had responsibility to turn in those who illegally used fireworks.
“Then, the neighbor is not accused of being a violator, but is both warned that illegal fireworks are unwelcome and enlisted in the cause to keep it legal,” she wrote.
Pendleton Avenue resident John Fowler suggested during Tuesday night’s open forum that — unless Longmont repeals its illegal-fireworks ordinance — police should be more aggressive, “make more arrests” and that illegal fireworks suspects found guilty should be fined and sentenced to jail time.
All fireworks that leave the ground and explode are illegal in Longmont. Fines for use of illegal fireworks are up to $500 and 90 days in jail, or both.
Mayor Brian Bagley, however, pushed back.
“I’m not a fan of putting people in prison for fireworks,” he said. “Even jail sentences would be a little much.”
While not every violator gets cited or arrested for breaking the fireworks law, that’s true of many laws, Bagley said, noting that not ever y inebriated motorist gets caught and penalized for drunken driving. He said that doesn’t make the prohibition invalid.
Meehan, the Atwood Street resident, agreed that she didn’t want her neighbors in jail over fireworks. But she urged fining them, saying it would make more people take seriously that illegal fireworks are not acceptable in the city.
Fowler suggested that if Longmont police aren’t able to respond adequately to residents’ fireworks complaints, the Council might want to consider repealing the ordinance entirely.
However, Martin pointed out that Longmont’s restrictions mirror Colorado law, where the prohibitions against certain kinds of fireworks would remain on the books.
Councilwoman Joan Peck said Tuesday night that the negative neighborhood impacts of illegal fireworks explosions “are devastating,” but she said a greatly expanded police force would be needed to step up enforcement while also responding to emergencies and other calls for ser vice — an expense she suggested most Longmont taxpayers would not support.