the Period of use and limitation, amendments to the special circumstances
section to specify a stage 2 ban on outdoor burning as a condition for the
prohibition of consumer fireworks, and clarification that the executive, in
consultation with the fire marshal and Sheriff’s Office, would retain
discretion under other special circumstances. Her preference would be that
they consider this amended version (AB2026-475). The substitute for
AB2026-475 also includes some non-substantive changes to incorporate
feedback from one of the county’s fire chiefs. This version adds language to
the Purpose section that gives the county some flexibility in the deference
to the State RCW in the event that State RCW changes, it adds back a
definition about display fireworks which comes directly from the RCW, and
adds an RCW reference to the section on Illegal sale to make sure the
county is in alignment with State law on that.
Galloway spoke about stakeholder outreach that has happened since their
last meeting and referenced three fact sheets (on file): Fact Sheet - Air
Quality, Fact Sheet - Fireworks policies among Washington Tribes, and Fact
Sheet - Impacts of fireworks. She pointed out there are still questions
around enforcement of the ordinance and funding for that, and that another
Washington County does enforcement through their Planning Department
rather than the Sheriff’s Office.
Councilmembers discussed what engagement looked like with stakeholders
in Birch Bay, the Tribes, and the Sheriff’s Office and how this ordinance
would affect them, what is working (or not) in other counties to reduce the
risks of fireworks, how the 100 foot setback might affect the ability for
consumer fireworks in Birch Bay, what could be done to address issues and
support concerns in Birch Bay outside of this ordinance, an interest in being
collaborative with stakeholders to figure out a solution that works for
everyone and works toward overall harm reduction, that there may be other
entities that sell fireworks as fundraisers that might be affected by the
ordinance, that though frustrations with the ordinance have been referenced,
there are also many people who support it, the idea of setting up a
temporary task force to come together with people with different
perspectives in order to get the policy right, data about response to
emergencies due to fireworks and that much of it is anecdotal, and interest
in retaining the three-day window for allowing fireworks.
Curtis Metz, Planning and Development Services Department, answered if
the mechanism of prohibiting the discharge of private fireworks because of
a ban on outdoor burning has ever been utilized, and stated it has never been
used to ban or limit fireworks.
Jed Holmes, Executive's Office, stated though there have been requests for
the executive to take action, no action has been taken in the last seven years
for the Fourth of July except messages put out about being careful.
