As local residents are planning their Independence Day celebrations, they are reminded that they may discharge fireworks, just not within city limits.
El Dorado city Ordinance 1072 prohibits the sale, setting off, ignition or otherwise exploding of firecrackers or other fireworks inside city limits.
In 2022, the El Dorado City Council enacted an ordinance — 1899 — that would have allowed the discharge of fireworks within city limits during three-day windows surrounding the July 4 and New Year’s holidays.
However, in May, the city council formally repealed Ordinance 1899.
Council Member Frank Hash cast the lone no vote against an emergency clause enacted the ordinance immediately.
Mayor Paul Choate said then that Ordinance 1072 was reactivated.
Council members adopted the ordinance during a regular meeting on June 9, 2022, per a request from El Dorado police Chief Kenny Hickman to amend city Ordinance 1072.
Hickman explained at the time that amending the ordinance would not only help ease service calls and complaints about fireworks and the workload of the El Dorado Police Department during July 4 and New Year’s Eve/Day, the measure would also allow officers to direct resources toward more pressing calls for service.
“Our resources get pretty much exhausted chasing down fireworks calls around those times and most of the time, it’s just kids having a little bit of fun,” Hickman told council members then.
“We’re just trying to think of a compromise between the needs of people and in some way, they’re going to do it anyway,” he continued. “It will lighten the load on us and free them up to have fun.”
Ordinance 1899 would have permitted the use of fireworks within city limits until 10 p.m. on July 4 and the days that immediately precede and follow the holiday (July 3 and 5) without a special permit or the potential to receive a citation for violating the ordinance.
The exemption would have also allowed the discharge of fireworks until 10 p.m. on Jan. 1 and 2. For New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31), the hours would have been extended to 2 a.m.
The new ordinance was short-lived.
A few days after the measure was adopted, Hickman asked the council to restore Ordinance 1072, saying that he had heard other perspectives about the matter from local residents, other law enforcement officers and the El Dorado Fire Department.
He asked for additional time to take a “step-by-step approach” to the matter, saying that he had not previously considered certain concerns and points-of-view, such as how the discharge of fireworks affect elderly residents, people who live with post-traumatic stress disorder and pets.
EFD Chief Chad Mosby also weighed in and, like Hickman, he asked city officials to revisit the matter after expressing concerns that some factors had not been taken into consideration.
In May, Mosby said the amendment was vague and did not address certain fire-safety laws and codes regarding the discharge of fireworks.
For instance, he noted that state law prohibits the use of fireworks within 600 feet of hospitals, churches and public schools.
“This was not stated in the ordinance and the average citizen will not know about these restrictions. This eliminates several areas in town,” Mosby wrote in an email in May.
Neither did the revision touch on the use of aerial fireworks, which can travel and potentially damage property, he said.
Mosby provided ordinances that regulate fireworks in other Arkansas cities and asked city council members to use the ordinances as templates in efforts to amend Ordinance 1072.
Another point that was reportedly raised pertained to the sale of fireworks and that the city is missing out on sales tax revenue by prohibiting the practice.
Following a lengthy discussion last year, council members voted to place a “stay” on Ordinance 1899 in order to research and reconsider the use of fireworks in El Dorado and restore all provisions of Ordinance 1072.
The stay disarmed the emergency clause that had immediately enacted Ordinance 1899 and included a caveat that called for council members to consider allowing the sale of fireworks within city limits.
Choate recently said he felt that the council handled the matter hastily in 2022 and city officials are still working with the police and fire departments to come up with viable alternatives.
Discharging fireworks within El Dorado city limits could result in a citation and fines.
The EFD encouraged residents to celebrate the holiday safely and issued tips, including:
If you are going to use fireworks, you need to find a place outside the city limits. Once there it is important to exercise an abundance of caution, no matter how many times you have used fireworks.
Always use fireworks in accordance with their directions. You should never hold fireworks in your hands, including fireworks advertised as child-friendly, such as sparklers or Roman candles.
Make sure that the type of fireworks you are using won’t cause a fire (there is always opportunity for leaves, pine straw and other combustibles to catch on fire).
Adults should refrain from using fireworks if they have consumed alcohol.
Children should always be supervised by an adult when using fireworks.