That the City Council receive and file this report and take no action regarding the current prohibition of fireworks in La Habra.
 

During the August 17, 2020 City Council meeting, Councilmember Shaw requested that staff bring forth an agenda report to discuss and consider the topic of allowing safe and sane fireworks to be allowed in La Habra.  Mayor Beamish seconded that request. Fireworks have been prohibited in La Habra since 1959.  In order to allow safe and sane fireworks within the City, the City Council would need to repeal Ordinance 1317 regarding the current prohibition on fireworks and direct staff to draft new regulations for consideration at a future date.

The City Council considered this same matter on April 20, 2015, and again on October 19, 2015.  Following public comment and deliberation at that time, Council took no action, thus preserving the City’s current prohibition on the sale and use of fireworks within City boundaries.  The staff reports and minutes from those meetings have been included as attachments to this report (Attachment 2, 3, 4 and 5).  As part of the staff report submitted to the City Council in April 2015, information was provided regarding the history of the City’s current ordinance prohibiting fireworks, a discussion regarding the potential benefits to non-profits if they were to be allowed to sell fireworks, and information regarding concerns from public safety officials regarding the use of fireworks in the community.  Council requested additional information and continued the item.  In October 2015 staff returned with an updated report that provided additional statistics related injuries caused by fireworks, as well as a summary of prior Orange County Grand Jury reports on the topic of regulating fireworks.

Cities adjacent to La Habra take different positions on the use of fireworks.  For example, the cities of La Mirada and Fullerton allow safe and sane fireworks to be sold and used; whereas, the cities of Brea, Whittier, and La Habra Heights prohibit the sale or use of fireworks. 

The sale of safe and sane fireworks could be a potential revenue generator for non-profit organizations with revenues ranging from approximately $5,000 to $60,000 based on prior surveys of non-profit groups in a neighboring city.  The wide range of potential revenue may be attributable to several factors including the location of a fireworks stand, how the fireworks are marketed, and how the fireworks stand is operated by a non-profit group.
 
Based on research conducted by staff, it appears that a city can support approximately one firework stand per 10,000 residents.  For La Habra, if fireworks sales were legal, that ratio could allow up to approximately six fireworks stands that could potentially be allowed to operate. There are approximately 250 non-profit organizations in La Habra, and if the ban were repealed, it is reasonable to assume that many would file applications to be allowed to sell fireworks.  To accommodate a large volume of requests, it would be advisable to establish a lottery system for interested non-profits, as well as pre-determining the specific locations in the community where fireworks sales would be permitted.  It may also be advisable to develop a Request for Proposal process to determine which fireworks companies would be allowed to sell their products through the local non-profits selected by lottery to establish stands. 

Lifting the prohibition on fireworks sales and use in La Habra could potentially have an adverse impact on public safety services, particularly Fire and Police protection.  The Los Angeles County Fire Department previously reviewed this issue and indicated opposition to the sale and use of fireworks in La Habra due to the potential threat of property damage and personal injury.  In addition, Southern California continues to experience drought conditions, which have exacerbated dry brush conditions in and around the City, raising the risk of a significant fire event.

The Police Department is also opposed to the sale and use of fireworks in the City.  The proliferation of illegal firework use already causes significant enforcement challenges, and the legalization of safe and sane fireworks in La Habra could result in an even greater use of illegal fireworks, as well as encourage more private parties where fireworks are used, thus potentially making the community less safe. The legalization of fireworks would also pose enforcement challenges as officers would have to determine the difference between legal and illegal fireworks, especially if both types are being concurrently used by groups or parties.  This could increase calls for service and require a resultant increase in staffing levels and overtime usage leading up to and including on July 4th of every year, which has been a common occurrence the past several years as the Police Department receives calls from residents and home-owners’ associations requesting heightened patrols in their neighborhoods.   

Furthermore, on three occasions in the past 30 years the Orange County Grand Jury has studied the prohibition/regulation of fireworks in the County (1987, 1989, and 2008).  The 1987 report (Attachment 3) found that there was a significant reduction in property loss and personal injury in those Orange County cities that banned the sale of all fireworks.  In addition, the 1987 report indicated that in cities that did not ban fireworks there were higher costs for County and local fire departments for the issuance of permits, inspections, extra patrols, manning of fire prevention bureau as well as the cost of fighting fireworks related fires.   

The 1989 report (Attachment 4) followed up and examined the use of fireworks in Orange County cities and unincorporated areas.  The report found that where “safe and sane” fireworks were permitted, safety provisions were being violated, particularly the prohibition on the sale or use of fireworks by children under the age of 16.  The report recommended that the remaining cities that permitted the sale of safe and sane fireworks take necessary steps to join the rest of the County in banning the sale of fireworks.  Furthermore, the 1989 Grand Jury recommended that cities take a more active role in encouraging local community non-profit groups in raising funds for their organizations in other ways not associated with the sale of fireworks.

The 2008 Grand Jury report (Attachment 5) found that while some Orange County cities had heeded its earlier recommendations, other cities had not and the debate regarding the issue had not abated. The 2008 report identified five specific cities that allowed the sale of safe and sane fireworks and indicated that safety officials, specifically police and fire personnel, were often overwhelmed with calls for service in those cities before, during and after the Fourth of July, and that many referred to sections of their cities as a “war zone” because of fireworks-related issues.  Public safety officials from these cities contended that the sale of State-approved “safe and sane” fireworks also contributed to a significant increase in illegal fireworks activity and added to the chaos of social disorder in their communities.  The Grand Jury also determined that these activities spilled over to adjacent cities where all fireworks were illegal, causing safety agencies in those cities significant enforcement problems as well. 

The 2008 Grand Jury found that the additional cost of public safety services for the Fourth of July increase taxpayer burden, which was not being shared by the non-profit organizations.  The Grand Jury also found that City and local safety officials were unable to enforce some municipal ordinances due to the sheer volume of illegal activity.  The 2008 report provided recommendations to better regulate the permitting process for cities that chose to continue to allow the sale of “safe and sane” fireworks.

Recent Fireworks Enforcement:
The following information was gathered by staff regarding the Fourth of July activities in 2020 throughout the City.  Despite COVID related restrictions on parties and gatherings, and the cancellation of the City's annual 4th of July show, the Police Department added four additional patrol vehicles to the field to specifically handle fireworks related calls for service.  In total, the department deployed eight officers in addition to the normal deployment for the evening.  The Department responded to 125 calls for service related to fireworks from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on July 4th/5th, 2020.  A total of eight administrative citations were issued and two arrests were made for possession of illegal fireworks. In the days prior to the Fourth of July, the Police Department added additional staffing on July 2nd and July 3rd to assist in responding to firework related calls for service. 

Staff recommends that the City Council retain its current long-standing prohibition on the sale and use of fireworks in the City of La Habra.

Should the City Council wish to allow the sale and use of fireworks within the community, the establishment and administration of the program will have a yet unknown impact on the City’s General Fund.  If the ban is repealed by Council, staff will attempt to estimate the potential impact to the City’s budget, as well as investigate how adjacent communities are recovering costs associated with the legalization of fireworks sale and use.

There are no specific Goals or Policies in the General Plan that address fireworks but in a broad sense it could be supportive of Goal C1 5 Community Activities.

In general terms the General Plan Goals are aimed at opportunities not prohibitions; however, maintaining the prohibition on fireworks would comply with Goal NH2 Wildland and Urban Fire Hazards, as well as Policy NH 2.6. Urban Fire Risks.