Columbus will allow the use of consumer fireworks from 6-10 p.m. on Nov. 13, 14 and 15, granting a request from community residents who wished to use them for the holidays of Dussehra and Diwali.
The Columbus City Council approved a resolution Wednesday permitting the fireworks, although the allowance only pertains to these specific dates and times for this year.
“Any consideration to make permanent changes would go to the mayor’s ordinance committee to discuss more in detail,” said Mary Ferdon, the city’s executive director of administration and community development.
Currently, the local fireworks ordinance for the city of Columbus only allows residents to use consumer fireworks during dates and times protected by state statute, which are as follows:
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June 29-July 3, from 5 p.m. to two hours after sunset
July 4, from 10 a.m. to midnight
July 5-9, from 5 p.m. to two hours after sunset
Dec. 31 at 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Jan. 1
At Wednesday’s meeting, the city council also approved the first reading of an ordinance correcting the city’s municipal code to reflect the above statute.
Columbus Fire Department Chief Chief Andy Lay said that due to a “scrivener’s error,” the municipal code previously had the end of New Year’s Eve fireworks as midnight, instead of 1 a.m. on Jan. 1. The ordinance corrects that error and aligns local law with state code. Two readings are required to approve the ordinance.
Lay also said that while he was fine with the council approving the resolution regarding 2020 Diwali and Dussehra celebrations, the city might need to take an “all-or-none approach” in the future so as not to leave other groups out.
He had concerns about how fireworks can affect certain individuals, such as Alzheimer’s patients, autistic individuals, veterans and individuals with post-traumatic stress disorders. He asked the city council to have a careful discussion of this before moving forward.
“I still think we’ve got to be sensitive to all the different diversities of different ethnic groups that we have in our community, said Councilman Tom Dell. “Through the ordinance review committee, I think we need to look at that and make sure that we’re not excluding anybody but include, be more inclusive. … If we’re allowing it during some of our big holiday celebrations, we ought to be looking at other ethnic groups and what their celebrations would be within a time period as well.”
City council member Elaine Hilber called the resolution “a big step” towards more inclusivity and acceptance.
However, Mark Goddard, owner of Mark and Jessie’s Fireworks Shack, disagreed.
“We’re only representing two groups of these 55+ in Columbus,” he said at Wednesday’s meeting. “… Nobody’s really getting represented good here, in this forum.”
Goddard added that people don’t just want fireworks for holidays, but also for personal celebrations such as birthdays, graduations and weddings. He said that the local fireworks ordinance should go back to being less restrictive.
“It was open,” he said. “There was no big, major outbreaks of places burning or, you know, fires.”
This isn’t the first time Goddard has asked city council to change the local fireworks ordinance. He made similar requests in July and September of this year. He also attended the Oct. 20 meeting, where residents requested that the city allow fireworks for Diwali.
At Wednesday’s meeting, one resident, Ashish Paliwal, thanked the city for the resolution but also requested some leniency for those who might not be aware of local fireworks laws.
“This year there has been some confusion that the law has gotten stricter,” he said. “… And some are not even aware that there is a law. So some people will continue to do that without knowing something has changed. And some people will get scared and not do it. So only this year, we wanted to make sure those people, who are not aware of changing the law and they will continue to do it, they should not get into any trouble.”
