Jan. 22--Oahu revelers may be able to light sparklers and fountains on New Year's Eve and Independence Day under a new proposal expected to be unveiled by two Honolulu City Council members today.
Council members Ikaika Anderson and Ann Kobayashi plan to introduce a bill today allowing sparklers and fountains to join standard firecrackers as items that can be set off via permits. The bill would get its first airing before the Council on Jan. 29.
The proposal is expected to reignite a long-running debate over consumer fireworks. The existing law, approved by the Council in 2010 and signed into law by then-acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell, allows people to set off only firecrackers.
A $25 city permit is required for the purchase of up to 5,000 firecrackers. Sparklers and fountains were banned outright despite objections based on religious and cultural grounds as well as gripes about overregulation.
"Constituents want this definition broadened," Kobayashi said. "Some people think fountains and sparklers are less dangerous. The aerials are already illegal and they should stay illegal."
Anderson said the bill would expand the existing fireworks law to allow sparklers and fountains through permits the way firecrackers are now permitted. The amount allowed by a permit would be based on the amount of flammable material contained in the fireworks, he said.
"I receive calls and get stopped in the community regularly by people frustrated that they are no longer permitted to celebrate New Year's or the Fourth of July with sparklers and fountains," Anderson said.
The bill's authors say the measure would also eliminate a provision requiring that people who obtain fireworks permits use them for a specified holiday only. The clause became an issue for the 2013 New Year's Eve celebration when an unanticipated spike in permits issued caught firecracker merchants off guard and created a shortage. Council Chairman Ernie Martin introduced a resolution asking city officials to allow the permits to be used in the future.
Fire officials, who said they are still tallying how many permits went unused this year, said they need to review the new bill before commenting, Capt. Terry Seelig said. In the past, fire officials have supported all fireworks prohibitions.
Salt Lake resident Ryan Arakaki, who started the Facebook fan page "Repeal the Oahu Fireworks Ban," said he and others would prefer an outright repeal of the prohibition against sparklers and other fireworks. "I guess it's better than nothing," he said. Arakaki said that without an array of fireworks to set off this past New Year's, some in his family just ate dinner and went to sleep before midnight.
The prohibition "takes the fun out of it," Arakaki said.
Copyright 2014 - The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
