Decatur council's Pepper wants to lift fireworks ban

Jul. 10—Decatur City Councilman Hunter Pepper wants the council to consider lifting the city's ban on fireworks and appeared to discourage people in a social media post, just before the Fourth of July weekend, from reporting violations of the ban to police.

Fellow council members Jacob Ladner, Carlton McMasters and Kyle Pike were critical last week of Pepper's Facebook post but said they are willing to discuss changes to the city's fireworks ordinance.

McMasters said Pepper's post "encourages people to break the law just because they're already breaking it. It doesn't facilitate changes."

Ladner said Pepper's comments "may violate the oath of office" he made as he was sworn into office.

"This is a nation, state and city of laws and people can't just pick and choose which laws to enforce," said Ladner, who is City Council president. "His comments put the Police Department in a tough position."

Pike said council members are expected "to lead by example, and that's not what Hunter has done. If he feels like there needs to be a change, he should bring it up at a council meeting."

The Decatur ordinance, adopted in 1956, bans the discharge, possession and sale of fireworks.

Pepper was unhappy with his fellow councilmen's criticism.

"It's highly disrespectful of them to criticize me for something that's so old that they said they would support looking into and altering," Pepper said Friday.

Pepper wrote in the social media post that people shouldn't call Morgan County 911 to complain about someone shooting fireworks.

"Do NOT call and hold up the line for individuals who need emergency services such as Police, Fire and EMS. The dispatchers at Morgan County 911 are stressed enough as it is," Pepper said in a June 30 post.

If people contact the police to complain about fireworks, he wrote, they should call the Police Department's non-emergency number.

"If you're going to be that person and call, at-least call that number," Pepper wrote. "This year on the 4th of July we are going to have what appears to be good weather (the days leading up aren't looking so good) meaning families from all over will partake in igniting fuses causing a large boom in the sky ... these are fireworks, something most of us enjoy. As stated above, DON'T CALL FOR THIS."

Pepper said Friday he "was trying to encourage people that, if they are going to do it (shoot fireworks), do it reasonably."

Pepper called the ordinance "unenforceable" for police because so many people enjoy shooting off fireworks during the July Fourth holiday.

"When you've got 500 people calling 911, an emergency service line, this is preventing people from getting lifesaving measures," Pepper said.

Pepper said he's not saying the ordinance should be eliminated. Instead, he wants a cutoff time, like 10 or 10:30 p.m., after which people have to stop lighting the fireworks.

Pepper also pointed out that the city is missing out on sales tax revenue due to the ban on sales of fireworks.

"Some people are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on fireworks and we're not getting any of (the sales tax revenue)," Pepper said.

Councilman Billy Jackson said he's "open to the conversation" on the fireworks ordinance "but I'm not inclined to change it."

"Fireworks are dangerous," Jackson said. "The younger we are, the more we want to see a fireworks show. Our predecessors put that on the book for a reason. Not only are they dangerous to the people who are shooting them, they are dangerous to others. I think the ordinance needs to stay intact."

Jackson said he understands the difficulty in enforcing the fireworks ban, but he said council needs to encourage people to attend a professional fireworks show, like the one at Point Mallard Park as part of the Spirit of America Festival, where the pyrotechnics are in a controlled environment.

Effect on pets

Jackson said he doesn't know if there's a safe way for the council to repeal the ordinance. He pointed out that fireworks scare pets and impact people with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I saw a dog on July 4 that was so terrified that he ran in front of a car and almost got hit," Jackson said.

Pepper said he respects that people are concerned that their pets get frightened by the loud booms from fireworks because he has a dog and a cat.

"Neither one of them like it. I get it. We're still going to do it," Pepper said.

Sales of personal fireworks broke records during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. revenues went from $1 billion in 2019 to $1.9 billion in 2020, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

Even though many municipal fireworks shows returned in 2021, personal sales pushed to $2.2 billion that year. The association predicts another jump in 2022 to $2.3 billion.

Police Chief Todd Pinion and Fire Chief Tracy Thornton said they would want to see any proposed changes to the ordinance.

"Our ordinance is we don't shoot fireworks," Thornton said Friday. "But every night this week I hear people shooting off fireworks. Obviously, fireworks are being shot."

Pinion wrote in a Friday email to The Daily that "there are serious safety concerns that must be considered, such as the risk of unintended personal injury, fires, and property damage. Those risks are significantly increased in heavily populated and residential areas. We have seen videos of 'fireworks wars,' mostly among unsupervised young people or irresponsible adults."

On July 4, 2020, Decatur police allege that a "fireworks war" near the East Acres housing complex prompted the shooting death of 16-year-old Amari Elijah Deloney. Capital murder charges are pending against the alleged shooter, 28-year-old Shannon Doors Thomas.

Thornton said the biggest concern is the threat of fire to homes and property, especially when it's as dry as it was during the holiday weekend.

"Every year it seems like we have an uptick in fires caused by fireworks," Thornton said. "We had a bunch of grass fires and dumpster fires."

He said there was a case in which people did the right thing and cleaned up after shooting fireworks, only to have smoldering embers start a fire in the garbage can.

"It does create more of a workload for our firefighters, but it's not overwhelming," Thornton said.

Enforcement tool

Pinion said there was a July 4 incident in a residential area in the city limits where fireworks resulted in a fire that burned the siding of a home, causing more than $15,000 in damage.

"As bad as that was, the homeowner was fortunate that their home was not a total loss or that anyone inside was injured. Having an ordinance in place gives us authority to take action if and when it is deemed necessary," the police chief wrote.

Pinion said it's not possible for his officers to stop every resident from shooting fireworks. He compares enforcing the fireworks ordinance to enforcing traffic laws.

"Many people exceed the speed limit, we could never catch everyone who travels over the speed limit. Officers have discretion and typically speeding citations are issued for the more egregious violations or in areas where we are conducting enhanced patrols due to complaints or to reduce traffic accidents in a specific area."

Police Department spokeswoman Irene Cardenas-Martinez said the department did not issue any citations for violating the fireworks ordinance over the three-day Fourth of July weekend. Police officers confiscated fireworks on three instances from Saturday morning to Monday at midnight, she said.

"Very few citations for fireworks violations are written, but the ordinance does give us the authority to take legal action when there is an egregious violation, significant safety hazards, or people acting irresponsibly," Pinion said. "Without an ordinance we would have very little authority to take action to prevent or remedy a dangerous situation. Revenue is secondary to the safety concerns."

Florence and Sheffield may be unique among the north Alabama cities that have populations comparable to or larger than Decatur in that they have ordinances allowing the private shooting of fireworks without a permit.

Florence allows fireworks to be sold and used between June 20 and July 10. They may be shot between the hours of 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., except on July 4, when the cutoff time is extended to 11 p.m.

Sheffield allows them 10 days prior to July 4 with a 10 p.m. curfew. This curfew extends to 11 p.m. on July 4.

Huntsville recently reviewed its ban on shooting, possessing or selling fireworks and the only change is that it now allows sparklers, city spokeswoman Kelly Schrimsher said.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.