Residents in the City of Sequim overwhelmingly favor an advisory vote for Sequim city councilors to to ban discharging all consumer fireworks within city limits starting in 2018.

The city’s proposition No. 1 is passing 2,088, 71.4-percent, to 838, 28.6-percent, as of the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 15, with about 10,000 more votes across Clallam County to count after press deadlines.

If the advisory vote passes with a “yes” vote, city councilors would vote to make it illegal to shoot fireworks within the city limits except for approved public displays. Retailers would be allowed to sell consumer fireworks. A “no” vote leaves the policy untouched.

Sequim City Attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said Monday, Nov. 14, at the Sequim City Council meeting, she plans to bring an amendment to the Nov. 28 meeting for city councilors to discuss and vote on about banning discharging fireworks. By state law, a ban cannot be effective until one year after its adoption.

The push to bring a vote to residents began with Deputy Mayor Ted Miller who suggested bans on fireworks within the city limits a few times over his tenure but fellow city councilors didn’t unanimously agree. Following a discussion this summer, councilors voted unanimously on July 25 to send the advisory vote to the ballot this general election.

Miller said he felt the push for a ban came more from citizens than him but he still expected a 2/3 majority vote in favor of a ban.

“The reason I think it did that is because we made the proposal reasonable,” he said. “The City of Sequim is a small city, so most of the sales are out of the city. Why curtail that? The compromise is to shoot them outside of city limits.”

Proponents of the ban previously stated that fireworks are dangerous and disturbing in densely populated areas like Sequim with risks of fire, injury and property damage along with fireworks’ noises negatively affecting animals and veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

City Councilor Pam Leonard-Ray said she’s surprised by the results but glad the ban is passing.

“Like many people, it has to do with pets for me personally,” she said.

“I’ve lived lots of places with fireworks but never any place they were so close to me. It upsets my animals and a lot of other people’s animals.”

City Councilor Candace Pratt previously said she felt banning the discharge of fireworks but allowing the sales seemed “dysfunctional.”

“The people have spoken,” she said. “The ones who really cared about it voted.”

Pratt said she voted for the ban despite her reservations.

“Allowing sales comes from a good heart,” she said. “Let’s not ban this opportunity for sales to benefit kids.”

Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickinson said the vote showed how strongly the public feels about fireworks.

“If that’s the way the community wants it, then that’s the way it should be,” he said.

However, Dickinson said he was slightly concerned people voting in favor of the ban might not know it doesn’t go into effect until 2018.

“It should give us plenty of time to educate people,” he said.

Fireworks sales

Nelson-Gross said fireworks sales would continue in city limits from June 28-July 5 by up to four groups, usually local churches/service groups, in designated areas. The City of Sequim charges a $100 licensing fee each year per booth.

Pastor Randy Hurlbut with Sequim Valley Foursquare has sold fireworks for several years in the city and said he’s saddened by the vote.

“It doesn’t clarify a situation clearly,” he said. “We can sell them here but not shoot them here. It makes criminals of our people.”

Pastor Jonathan Simonson, also with Sequim Valley Foursquare, sells fireworks at another booth than Hurtlbut but plans to advise customers by handing out maps of city and Clallam County boundaries.

“It is, of course, the responsibility of each citizen to follow the laws in the rightful areas designated,” he said.

Last summer, city staff recommended the city council investigate financing a public fireworks display if the ban passes.

Nelson-Gross said said early cost estimates set a show in Sequim between $11,000-$30,000 depending on the size of the mortars, length of the display and if the fireworks are discharged from a barge.

She said if the city did host a public fireworks show, it likely would be at a park.

Nelson-Gross said for security, signage and other costs, the city would need to budget about $25,000 for a 20-minute show.

Pratt said she’d support a public display on the Fourth of July if a site is found.

Leonard-Ray said the idea sounds nice but it is expensive.

“Sequim does have one with the Irrigation Festival,” she said. “There are plenty of places folks can go if they want to see a fireworks display. I don’t think it’s necessary to provide that. I want to gauge interest before making a decision.”

The Sequim Irrigation Festival’s logging show in May hosts the Sequim-Dungeness area’s only public fireworks display annually.

If the ban carries through, Sequim would follow the Port Angeles City Council which voted in March 2015 to ban discharging fireworks within the city limits except on the Fourth of July. It went into effect last summer. The City of Port Townsend banned consumer fireworks in 2003.

Consumer fireworks would continue to be allowed for discharging from June 29-July 5 in Clallam County and the Sequim area outside of the Sequim city limits.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.