Fireworks too hot for City Hall to handle

A debate on allowing big fireworks in Wichita fizzled out Tuesday when City Council members decided they need more time to study things that go boom in the night.

The council rejected an ordinance that would have allowed bigger, brighter and louder fireworks in the city, after a lengthy public hearing where most residents who spoke urged the council to keep Fourth of July celebrations under control.

By the end of the hearing, council members were seeking compromise that would satisfy residents who like to celebrate Independence Day with a big bang, while reducing the annoyance factor for those who don’t care for explosions in their neighborhood.

The council tossed it back to city staff to study ways to approve some expansion of private fireworks, but not follow other Sedgwick County cities that allow nearly unlimited use of mortar shells, skyrockets and firecrackers.

Wichita now allows only novelty fireworks such as hand-held sparklers and small-scale “fountains” that shoot sparks no more than six feet. Nearly all the speakers at the council meeting wanted to keep it that way, or ban fireworks entirely.

“There is a difference between six foot or 100 foot when a mortar tube falls over and you’re 15 foot away, or a toddler is 15 foot away – big difference,” said business owner Kevin Stultz. He accused the council of considering larger fireworks just to cash in on the revenue that’s now going to neighboring towns.

“Don’t sell your stakeholders’ safety, please,” he said.

Marc Haynes, a retired firefighter, told the council that fireworks are already an excessive problem in Wichita and relaxing the rules would make things worse for the elderly, veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and families with babies who need their sleep.

He said the constant booming last Fourth of July just about drove his dog nuts.

“It usually doesn’t bother him, but this year it just was the worst I’ve ever seen,” Haynes said. “He came inside and went to a dark corner and did his business and I had to clean it up. That made me realize it was just over the top this year.”

Not everyone was anti-fireworks.

“My holiday is the Fourth of July,” said Janet Wilson, a northeast Wichita neighborhood activist. “I like things that go boom, the bigger boom the better … Are you going to take my independence because my neighbor doesn’t want it?”

In the end, the council agreed to look into some suggestions by Mayor Jeff Longwell to allow some use of larger fireworks, but not in close proximity to neighbors who’d be bothered.

Longwell said an acceptable compromise might be to keep the current rules in residential neighborhoods, but set aside at least one area per council district where people could go to shoot off larger fireworks.

The larger city parks or private lots like the Cessna Event Center could be among the possibilities, he said.

In addition, he said the city could take action to make its regulations on fireworks more enforceable.

Now, firefighters or police have to catch someone in the act or in direct possession of fireworks to write a citation.

Longwell said he wants the legal staff to look into whether that standard could be reduced to credible evidence that a person violated the fireworks code.

The council generally agreed to take up the fireworks issue again in a month or two, in case they want to change the rules in time for the next Fourth of July.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Fireworks too hot for City Hall to handle."