Maryville is on track to become the second Blount County city to impose additional restrictions on fireworks this year. In a work session Friday morning, March 22, staff presented the city council with a proposed ordinance text that would curtail the discharge of fireworks and walk back the legal dates for their sale.
As it is currently written, the proposed ordinance would keep legal discharge from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 3 and 4, but shooting fireworks around New Year’s Eve would no longer be legal.
The ordinance, which will be on the Maryville City Council’s next agenda April 2, also raises the legal age to purchase fireworks from 16 to 18. The change mirrors new regulations recently passed by Alcoa, where commissioners have also required vendors to check IDs and post the legal dates and times for shooting pyrotechnics.
The city would also reduce the window when it’s legal to sell fireworks in the city to June 25-July 4, charging Maryville-based vendors $500 and transient vendors $4,000 for a permit to sell in the city limits.
The idea, city staff has said, is to cut back on the misuse of fireworks while still keeping them legal. Council members have said they believe banning fireworks entirely will not preclude their misuse, but last year’s Independence Day celebrations saw staff at the Blount County 911 center receive more than 100 fireworks-related complaints, prompting the city into action.
A key issue, Maryville City Manager Greg McClain told the council Friday, is that some people will shoot fireworks regardless of the legality.
“Our experience even back when it was completely illegal was to drive up saying ‘you need to stop,’ we would leave and then the neighbors would call saying they’re right back at it,” he said.
The city, Maryville Mayor Andy White said, doesn’t want to use strong-arm tactics to handle non-compliance, which means a hefty awareness campaign will have to occur between now and the Fourth of July to make sure people know about the changes. If necessary, police are also able to confiscate fireworks if they see residents breaking the law.
Violations could be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.
The ordinance would also delete a clause currently in place that allows for public fireworks displays within city limits. A permit costs $250 under the current code, and applications must be made at least 10 days in advance. Although the code requires a permit to be okayed by the city Fire and Police Chiefs, it does not dictate firefighters or police should be present.
McClain said the whole provision is outdated and needs to go. Fireworks, he said, have grown in size since the clause was first written, making such displays more dangerous.
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