Lincoln City moves forward with ban on fireworks

Fireworks have been a contentious topic for the city council over the last year, with the city struggling to muster enough manpower to patrol its 7 miles of beachfront every Fourth of July weekend. All Oregon’s beaches are managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and are considered state parks, making all firework use on them illegal.

City Attorney Richard Apicello said he looked at Portland and Bend’s fireworks ordinances for guidance and found most issues with fireworks were caused by types that were outlawed by the state, not the ground-based or hand fireworks usually sold for personal use. 

Apicello urged the council to wait on its ban until next year and see about putting it up to the voters, partly because it would give fireworks vendors a better opportunity to prepare for the ban.

Last year, the Lincoln County Fire Defense Board urged every municipality and district in the county to enact a ban before Jan. 1 so vendors would have enough time to cancel or avoid placing orders for this summer, but most cities who have gone through with a ban this summer instead opted do so under an emergency ordinance, following an example set by the Waldport City Council last summer. 

Depoe Bay went forward with a ban earlier this year, while Toledo is still considering a ban, and Newport passed an ordinance that would allow it to enact a ban if needed.

Councilor Elaine Starmer argued that since Lincoln City was going to use its right to push a ban through using an emergency ordinance, it wouldn’t make sense to wait until next year. She said she’s heard arguments both for and against a ban, but ultimately Oregon is still going through a drought, and she thought the increasing fire danger was reason enough to proceed, at least for this summer.

“I don’t know how we could put an emergency ban off until next year if we deem it necessary for fire suppression,” Starmer said. “If we believe our city is in danger of fire, we need to think about a ban this year. Secondly, this issue has split this city almost down the middle in regards to who is for and against fireworks as a whole. It doesn’t matter if they’re legal or illegal when it comes to how people feel about this.”

Starmer urged the rest of the council to make a decision for an emergency ban that night and leave a permanent ban to a vote of the people at a later time. 

Lincoln City Police Department Lieutenant David Broderick said a ban wouldn’t make the department’s job on the Fourth of July weekend any easier and would only add more to their plate at the department’s busiest time of the year.

“We have a difficult time now trying to live up to the expectations people have for us to deal with illegal fireworks, which is nearly impossible,” Broderick said. “If we’re having to enforce a legal or consumer fireworks ban too, I don’t know how we’re going to go about that. Frankly, we don’t have the staff. We’ve said it before, it’s a number game. Around 20 to 30 of us dealing with between 20,000 to 50,000 people depending on when the holiday lands, it will be difficult at best.”

Hoagland argued it was too late this year to enact a ban, and he is against a ban of legal fireworks in general, arguing Lincoln City residents were already being responsible, and it is mainly illegal fireworks that are the problem. Hoagland also said he found it contradictory that the council was willing to give more work to the already overburdened police department.

Parsons said he was concerned about passing something unenforceable, but was open to a ban purely for fire safety reasons. 

The council voted and passed the ban, with city staff to draft an ordinance and bring it back at a future meeting. The ban would only be for this summer, and voters will have the opportunity to weigh in during the November election on whether to enact a permanent ban or not.

Other notable items from the April 11 meeting:

• Several Lincoln City residents and business owners said they were against the council’s recent decision to allow companies like Lyft and Uber to operate within the city, citing concerns it would drive local taxi service prices up and the city may be unable to enforce the requirements set forth in its ordinance. Such requirements include background checks for drivers and the same licensing required of the city’s current taxi services. 

• The council appointed Patti Kroen to the city’s planning commission.

• The council and staff discussed the city’s plan to take over the D River State Recreation Site and develop a visitors center there.