Group looks to reverse Tumwater’s fireworks ban

Tumwater’s ban on fireworks hasn’t gone into effect yet and already there is an effort to overturn it.

A group calling itself Citizens for Legal Fireworks has filed an initiative petition to overturn the ban on the sale and discharge of fireworks.

If the county auditor’s office determines the petition has enough valid signatures, the Tumwater City Council would have 20 days to either adopt the petition into law or decide to put it to voters, according to a briefing by City Administrator John Doan.

The petition needs 2,237 signatures (that’s 15 percent of voters) to be deemed valid.

In November 2016, Tumwater voters narrowly approved the ban starting in 2018. Olympia and Lacey already ban the sale and discharge of fireworks.

“The problem with the fireworks ban is that it doesn’t do anything about the illegal fireworks,” said Jack Wittenborn, a backer of the petition. “People are going to go out and buy stuff and there’s going to be more injuries and more problems because they can’t buy the legal stuff.”

Wittenborn is a member of the Tumwater Lions Club, which he said is backing the petition with the help of fireworks suppliers. The club has sold fireworks as a fundraiser for decades.

Tumwater Mayor Pete Kmet said if the matter goes to voters, that would likely be in April. The cost of a special election then would be about $112,000.

“It’s going to cost us a lot of money to vote on the issue when voters have already decided for what appears to be a special interest,” said Kmet, noting he is also concerned about a provision in the petition that would mean the city could not ban fireworks use even in high fire danger conditions.

The matter is on the agenda for a City Council work session Tuesday evening.

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Group looks to reverse Tumwater’s fireworks ban."