Louisville became the third local municipality to change its fireworks law this year after the Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed the town’s first-ever ordinance on the subject. The ordinance, passed Tuesday, June 11, formally establishes dates to shoot fireworks and also dictates conditions for sale.
Shooting fireworks will be legal from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. July 1-3 and from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. July 4.
In December, shooting fireworks will be legal from 8 p.m. December 31 to 1 p.m. Jan. 1.
The change came in response to complaints from residents over people shooting fireworks in town year-round.
“We’ve had a significant problem with the shooting of fireworks, especially on the lakefront areas,” Louisville Mayor Jill Pugh told The Daily Times in a phone interview.
To combat the issue, town leadership has passed a second reading of the town’s first fireworks ordinance — a text similar to those in effect in surrounding municipalities. The ordinance bans shooting fireworks outside windows around Independence Day and New Year’s Eve, listing a penalty of $50 for violations. It is illegal to sell fireworks to anyone under 16.
Regulations
The town, Pugh said, has not set up strict guidelines for enforcement, but will be working toward that in the future.
“That’ll be our next step, but I don’t think it’ll be in place before the holiday because we just don’t have the time for that,” she said.
The ordinance also establishes the window to sell fireworks in accordance with state guidelines. Permits for the summer holiday window, for example, will be good June 20 to July 5. A previous version of the text left sales open through July 9, but the board opted to modify the wordage in Tuesday’s meeting.
A permit for using fireworks outside the legal window as part of special events can be obtained for $5, according to the document. That applies to the likes of “schools, wedding groups, businesses and civic clubs” that want to put on a display.
Permit applicants will also have to pay a $100 “cleanup deposit” per location, which the city will either return at the end of the fireworks season or use to tidy the vendor’s spot once they’ve relocated.
Community
Louisville is now the third local municipality to pass a fireworks ordinance this year, after Alcoa and Maryville. The neighboring cities each restricted their already-existing ordinances this spring, opting to cut back on the sale dates and raising the age needed to purchase fireworks.
Both acts came on the heels of over a hundred complaints over noise and misuse during last year’s Independence Day festivities.
Maryville and Alcoa have also removed clauses allowing fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
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