SCARBOROUGH — A common complaint about consumer fireworks, set
to be decriminalized Jan. 1, is that they could go off in any direction.
The same might be said of Scarborough’s reaction
to the new law.
After a Sept. 7 consensus vote against passing
local restrictions, the Town Council last week reversed course, voting 5-2 at
its most recent meeting to call for a public hearing on an ordinance banning
the sale and use of consumer fireworks within town limits. However, that
hearing is slated for Nov. 16 and the final vote, to be held the same night,
could tip the town back to a laissez faire approach, depending on the result of
Tuesday’s municipal elections, which occurred after The Current’s deadline.
[For election coverage, go online to www.keepmecurrent.com.]
Of the five councilors who voted in favor of the
fireworks ban at its first reading, two –Ron Ahlquist (up for re-election) and
Judith Roy – said they did so primarily to give the public a chance to
“have its say.” Of the three who expressed strong support for the ban, one –
Michael Wood – was serving at his last meeting.
It’s also worth noting that Scarborough is one
of the few communities where the fire chief is not beating the drum to enact a
ban, at least not publicly. Chief Michael Thurlow says that while he is
“personally opposed” to the legalization of consumer fireworks, he could not
find a compelling reason to oppose them on a professional basis.
“Scarborough is trying to be a proactive
business community and our official public position is that the state law took
care of most of our concerns – such as, they [fireworks] can’t be set up on the
beaches, they can’t be shot off by kids – so, we did not oppose it as public
safety officials,” he said, following last week’s council meeting.
“We firmly believe that this is the policy board
of the town,” said Thurlow, gesturing toward the council table. “It’s not my
opinion that matters.”
Other chiefs, however, have been lining up to
oppose the new law ever since Gov. Paul LePage laid his signature to it July 1.
Since then, cities and towns across southern Maine have fairly raced to
exercise an out written into the enabling legislation, which says
municipalities may enact local restrictions, up to and including an outright
ban on sale and use, if not possession, of fireworks.
REGIONAL REACTION
Portland was the first to do so on Sept. 19.
South Portland followed suit Oct. 17. The Cape Elizabeth Town Council will
conduct a final vote Nov. 14. In each case, the local fire chief, often with a
chief of police at his side, has spoken in favor of outlawing the sale and use
of any firework more powerful than the traditional “sparkler.”
Although cities and towns cannot outlaw simple
possession, some have inched right up to the line, making it a crime to have
the soon-to-be legal product “with the intent” to either sell it or set it off.
“Essentially, if we come across people who have
them in their pocket, or on their person, and we’re investigating a complaint
of fireworks being used in that area, that’s usually where were at,” explained
South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins, in advance of the city vote.
In other words, he said, in South Portland,
possession is grounds for prosecution, under the right circumstances.
The drive to outlaw fireworks in South Portland
went up as straight and true as any skyrocket. The same could be said of Cape
Elizabeth, where Councilor James Walsh admitted the ordinance committee didn’t
wait for a Mother-May-I to take the first step.
“We took it upon ourselves without direction
from the Town Council because we felt this needed to be addressed,” he said at
first reading of the banning ordinance Oct. 12.
SCARBOROUGH DEBATES
But in Scarborough, the initial reaction tended
toward a minimalist approach. With input from Thurlow and Police Chief Robert
Moulton, Hall advised against a local ban when broaching the issue with
councilors for the first time. The strongest measure he suggested was the
addition of a sprinkler-system requirement to local zoning rules, for any
building, of any size, set up to sell fireworks.
That changed less than a week later at an
ordinance committee meeting, when Chairwoman Carol Rancourt questioned the
wisdom of letting state law stand. Her primary concern seemed to be that, while
fireworks use would be limited to private property, they could be shot off any
day of the year from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. On July 4 and Dec. 31, the days one
might ordinarily expect to hear the bang and pop of celebratory explosions, use
is permitted until 12:30 the following morning.
“If we’re going to allow fireworks 24/7, then
I’m going to let my dog bark 24/7,” she joked.
Meanwhile, Councilor Karen D’Andrea came to the
meeting prepared, with multiple copies of the ordinance Portland had adopted.
That resulted in a 180-degree shift in policy and sent a ban to the council
over the objection of the third committee member, Jessica Holbrook.
Like Portland’s ordinance, the draft to be
discussed in Scarborough Nov. 16 defines “consumer fireworks” by referring to
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Under wording set out by the U.S.
Department of Transportation, it means, "explosives that present a minor
explosion hazard [in which] the explosive effects are largely confined to the
package and no projection of fragments of appreciable size or range is to be
expected.”
Under Maine law, consumer fireworks may not
include any “missile” products, such as bottle rockets, skyrockets and aerial
spinners.
Dan Peart, director of showroom operations for
Ohio-based Phantom Fireworks, which already has looked into opening up shop in
Scarborough, said local officials “grossly misunderstand” the product.
“A consumer firework does not explode,” he said
in a recent interview. “Chemically, it burns. You could take several consumer
fireworks, put them in a Dixie cup, and at worst you’d flip the cup.”
Calling Maine’s new law “the Cadillac of
fireworks legislation,” Peart pointed out that it does not legalize the aerial
fireworks most people are familiar with from Independence Day celebrations, nor
the infamous M-80 noisemaker.
So-called “cherry bombs” remain illegal, and
should stay so, Peart said, comparing the 3 grams of explosive power in an M-80
to the 50 milliliters in a typical consumer firework by calling it the
difference “between two shakes of salt, and the entire shaker.”
The distinction appeared lost on many
Scarborough councilors, however, who cited the dangers posed by fireworks of
any kind.
“I think it’s pretty common to know that
fireworks are dangerous,” said D’Andrea. “Of all fireworks accidents and
injuries, 40 percent are kids, who lose a hand, a finger, get an eye shot out.
Certainly, we don’t want to add to those statistics in Scarborough.
“The U.S. Fire Administration says the safest
way to enjoy fireworks is to let the professionals do it,” she added, saying
that the shore side of Interstate 95 is too populated, and the inland side
often too dry to expect legalization of fireworks to pass free of incident.
“I grew up in a world were we had fireworks,”
countered Ahlquist. “We set them off and I don’t’ remember anyone getting hurt.
I don’t remember anybody burning anybody’s house down.”
“It was a little while ago when you were a kid,”
quipped Roy. “There were a lot less people in town then, and a lot less
developments.”
D’Andrea, noting that Portland and South
Portland have already banned consumer fireworks and Cape Elizabeth is posed to
do so, while Old Orchard Beach, Gorham and Westbrook are all considering bans,
or, in the latter case, restrictions.
“Frankly, for us to not ban would make us poor
neighbors in many ways,” she said. “People would come here to buy fireworks and
then go back to their town. Scarborough could be perceived as a real problem in
all of this.”
“As far as other towns around us dictating what
were going to do, I get a little defensive about that,” said Ahlquist. “I don’t
think people will be mobbing into Scarborough.”
Councilor Richard Sullivan, a Portland
firefighter, said he would not support an outright ban.
“Let’s see what happens,” he said. “To jump on
the bandwagon right now, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
A CLOSER LOOK
The following cities and towns are among those that have enacted or are considering bans on consumer fireworks, which become legal to purchase, possess and use in Maine on Jan. 1. The decriminalization bill, signed into law by Gov. LePage in July, allows municipalities to pass local restrictions.
Ban on sale/use adopted: Portland (Sept. 19, City Council 9-0), South Portland (Oct. 17, City Council 7-0), North Yarmouth (Oct. 18, Town Meeting 21-8), Bangor (Oct. 24, City Council), and Lewiston (Nov. 1, City Council 5-2)
Vote on ban scheduled: Cape Elizabeth (Nov. 14, public hearing/council vote), Scarborough (Nov. 16,
public hearing/council vote), Wiscasset (Dec. 13, referendum vote)
Ban rejected, restrictions enacted: Westbrook (Nov. 7)
Ban ordinance tabled: (Augusta, Nov. 3)
Others considering bans: Bath, Belfast, Brunswick (Nov. 7 first reading), Falmouth, Farmingdale, Gorham (in committee), Old Orchard Beach, Orono, Paris, Waterboro, Windham (in committee)
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