Fireworks illuminate the night sky over the Mendenhall Valley on New Year's Eve. At Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, City and Borough of Juneau Assembly members agreed to proceed with a proposed ordinance that governs the local use of fireworks. Members of the public may comment on the proposal at the May 24 City Assembly meeting. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Cue the fireworks: City talks proposed ordinance

Public comment on proposed fireworks ordinance set for May 24.

This article has been updated to reflect that the initially proposed ordinance was not a total ban. It would have banned sales and put strict limits on what could be used and when. The Juneau Empire regrets this error.

After months of discussion and with the clock ticking on the July 4 holiday, the City and Borough of Juneau moved a step closer to changing the city’s firework ordinance at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

On May 24, the City Assembly will hear public comments and vote on a proposed ordinance that bans loud, mortar-style fireworks in Juneau’s neighborhoods and imposes limits on the types, times and locations where residents can use fireworks.

The measure is more permissive than the ordinance that Assembly Member Michele Bonnet Hale initially proposed in February. It would have banned sales and put strict limits on what could be used and when.

CBJ considers new restrictions on fireworks

The current proposal is the result of months of negotiation and several amendments by committee members. If passed, the ordinance will go into effect 30-days after passage, in time for the revised rules to apply for America’s upcoming 245th birthday.

“People have complained about the mortars. By removing one type of firework, we satisfy 90% of complaints,” said Assembly member Wade Bryson.

Mayor Beth Weldon and Assembly member Loren Jones disagreed with Bryson’s perspective on the compromise, saying that the proposed rules are overcomplicated and difficult to enforce.

“The only thing that’s going to be enforceable is a complete ban,” Jones said. “This ordinance will complicate the lives of our police officers and citizens. You will not be rid of this ever.”

Jones predicted that efforts to communicate the nuances of the rules would not be effective.

“No one will pay attention to your flier. They will shoot off whatever they want and hope the cops are busy with other public safety issues. It’s going to boom off West Juneau and right into my bedroom. We’ve overcomplicated this. It should be a complete ban. That’s the only thing that is enforceable,” Jones said.

Before the committee voted to move the ordinance forward, Weldon proposed scrapping the current version in favor of making tweaks for this summer and sending the question back to the committee for additional work. However, her counter-proposal did not get traction.

Voicing the perspective of the committee’s majority, Hale said that she thought the current incarnation represented a good compromise position and could be communicated effectively to residents in advance of July 4.

City committee mulls fireworks limitations

The proposed changes do not affect permitted public displays or regulatory use for public safety or wildlife control.

Imposing sales tax

The CBJ Assembly also agreed to consider an additional ordinance to require that all sellers of fireworks collect sales taxes on all firework sales that take place in the city or borough.

If passed, this would affect sales by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, an organization that is generally exempt from collecting sales tax. Last year, Tlingit and Haida sold fireworks for personal use ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The assembly will consider that question on a separate timeline.

“Whoever sells fireworks needs to collect taxes to provide for the public safety response they require,” Jones said as he introduced the proposal.

Summary of proposed regulations

The proposed ordinance and definition of each type of firework is available in the Assembly section of the city’s website at juneau.org.

According to the proposal, the use of fireworks is banned in the City and Borough of Juneau with the following exceptions:

Concussive fireworks, defined as a firework launched from a tube with an inside diameter larger than ¾ of an inch or has a mortar as a feature, may be used on private or public property with permission from the properties owner, outside the fire service area, and only during certain hours on New Year’s and July 3 and 4. This means that the loud, mortar-style fireworks are banned from Juneau’s neighborhoods.

Holiday fireworks may be used on private property with permission from the property owner inside the fire service area only on December 31 and January 1 and July 3 and 4, during certain hours. They may also be used outside the fire district area year-round between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. each day.

Allowable fireworks may be used on private property with the property owner’s permission or on designated public property on December 31 and January 1 and July 3 and 4 during certain hours and year-round from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Concussive, holiday and allowable fireworks may be used on private property outside the roaded service area year-round, with permission from the property owner.

Contact reporter Dana Zigmund at dana.zigmund@juneauempire.com or 907-308-4891.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read