Kent voters will advise the City Council about whether they want personal fireworks use banned on the Fourth of July.
The council decided at a Tuesday workshop to put a referendum on the Nov. 3 general election ballot to get the opinion of voters about a fireworks ban.
Results of the vote will help the council decide whether to adopt a law to ban fireworks on July 4. Kent city code allows people to purchase and possess legal fireworks from June 28 to July 4 but fireworks can only be discharged from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 4. Violators of the code must pay a $250 fine.
Because of so many complaints from residents the last few years about numerous fireworks going off in their neighborhoods, city officials are trying to figure out how to resolve the issue. Kent Police used emphasis patrols this year to crack down on fireworks use. Officers cited 38 people and arrested three for fireworks violations.
“We’ve come through with a process to look at the potential of a fireworks ban,” Council President Dana Ralph said. “This item will be placed as an advisory measure on the November ballot. It will be going out to voters to let the council know: are you in support of a (fireworks) ban or not in the city? And that will guide this council’s further decisions and discussions regarding fireworks.”
The council will have a special meeting next week in order to meet the King County Elections deadline to get the referendum on the ballot. The costs for the city to the county to place the issue on the ballot will be close to zero dollars because the city already has five council races on the ballot, city Chief Administrative Officer Derek Matheson said. A special election for the advisory vote would run more than $100,000.
“To me, it’s all about the will of the people, right?” Councilman Bill Boyce said. “I will feel better if we let the people vote and I will go with the will of the people. It’s their city and they should have a say about their city.”
Councilman Jim Berrios also wants to hear from the people through a vote.
“If we have an opportunity that would be my preference to allow the will of the people to make that decision,” Berrios said. “I get it that it’s a recommendation they are coming back with, but I would be very comfortable with that and it would really help us understand the general feeling out there.”
If the council approves a ban before next July, the ban would not go into effect until 2017 because state law requires a one-year notice. According to Kent Fire Department officials, fireworks vendors asked and received that one-year protection from the state because they must order fireworks from China far ahead of July 4 and if cities where they sold fireworks suddenly banned them, they would be left with a lot of extra inventory.
The council has no plans to ban the city’s Fourth of July Splash fireworks display at Lake Meridian. Any ban would target the neighborhood gatherings where numerous legal and illegal fireworks are discharged.
City staff will seek people to write pro and con statements about a fireworks ban for the November voters’ pamphlet.
“Now that we know the cost is negligible, I’m very comfortable and very happy to see this going to the referendum of the people,” Councilman Dennis Higgins said.
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