WESTBROOK – An outcry from residents during the July 4 holiday may prompt changes in Westbrook’s fireworks rules.
“We are fully aware of the nature and scope of all the complaints,” Mayor Colleen Hilton told the public on Monday night at a City Council meeting.
She announced that the next council Committee of the Whole meeting would have an agenda item addressing the issue.
After the state legalized consumer fireworks Jan.1, including firecrackers, bottle rockets, and other small, commercially available incendiary devices, Westbrook chose not to enact a local ordinance banning or restricting their sale and use. Rules viewable on the city’s website are connected to the state legislation.
There is no proposal in place for an ordinance, so whether the committee will be asked to outright ban the fireworks or simply restrict usage is not clear. The date for the next meeting has not been set, but it is expected to happen sometime in August.
Prior to Jan. 1, no one could buy or use consumer fireworks anywhere in the state. Legislation first written last summer lifted the ban, but it allowed communities to craft their own ordinances, either to regulate or ban sale and/or use.
That touched off debates statewide. Cities like Portland and South Portland rushed to put their own bans into place, while some communities, such as Westbrook, did nothing. That means the only rules remaining to govern fireworks in Westbrook are broad restrictions set by the state, such as banning use after 10 p.m. for most days of the year, and 12:30 p.m. on days such as July 4.
Westbrook’s about-face on the issue follows a huge number of complaints from the public. Greg Hamilton, Westbrook’s director of communications, said the city dispatch center receives around 100 calls for service on a normal day, and in past years, even with the state ban, there are some extra calls on July 4 complaining of fireworks.
But this year, on the evenings of July 3-4, the center received 30 fireworks complaints that led to an officer being dispatched, and 60 more calls from people asking about the rules regarding fireworks, all in addition to the normal volume of calls.
“It’s significantly higher than we’ve ever dealt with in the past,” he said.
The number of inquiries got so bad, Hamilton said, that he actually set up a temporary recorded message dispatchers could send callers to, which explained the rules.
Hilton said this week that she has been inundated with people asking her about the matter, between phone calls and people just coming up to her on the street, asking about noise disturbance, and also voicing concerns about safety.
“I’ve gotten more complaints about this than any issue since I’ve been mayor,” she said.
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