Fireworks a hot topic for West Richland

Nearly 80 West Richland residents gathered at Enterprise Middle School this week to air their views about fireworks.

And city officials came away with the impression the group was fairly evenly split between those who want to ban fireworks outright and those who like it as it is now, said Ruth Swain, West Richland economic development director.

"Many expressed a willingness to compromise one way or another and perhaps increase the regulation requirements or reduce the number of days they can be fired off," she said.

The city council called the town hall meeting Tuesday to get input from the community.

In April 2011, the council adopted an ordinance amendment that restricted the number of days fireworks can be discharged from nine to six. Because it's more restrictive than the state law, the ordinance couldn't take effect for a year.

Fireworks legally can be discharged from noon to 11 p.m. July 1-3, noon to midnight July 4, noon to 11 p.m. July 5 and 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec. 31-Jan. 1.

Any additional changes in hours or days also would have a waiting period of one year.

"There were some good suggestions from the public. Some ideas, besides regulating the days and hours, were restricting the types of fireworks and perhaps requiring permits," Swain said.

"People also discussed enforcement ideas, especially how to enforce regulations when it came to aerials because it so difficult to tell where they came from.

"This is sure to be an ongoing discussion. The council wants to make sure there's ample opportunity for the community to express their needs and desires," she said.

The issue of fireworks will come up during a future council meeting but a date has not been set.

West Richland residents are welcome to drop off a letter at city hall or send an email to council members about their thoughts on fireworks.

To find their email addresses, go to westrichland.org, and click on "city council" under the government heading.

This story was originally published April 13, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Fireworks a hot topic for West Richland."