Council directed staff to align West Point fireworks-sale rules with state code

West Point staff told the council that the city’s business-license code contains fireworks-sale dates and discharge windows that differ from current state law. The staff report recommended striking the locally listed sale and discharge dates and replacing them with a simple cross-reference to the state statute so the city automatically adopts future state date changes.

Staff said the city’s current ordinance lists multi-day sale and discharge windows (for example, three days before and three days after certain holidays) that are broader than recent state law and that state law has seen changes and pending legislation. Because the fireworks rules are in the city’s business-license ordinance rather than the land-use code, the planning commission is not required to review the change and no public hearing is necessary under staff’s reading. Staff proposed returning with a cleanup ordinance at a subsequent meeting to strike the local dates and include a reference to the state code.

Council members asked only procedural questions about whether a public hearing would be required; staff indicated the change could be placed on a future agenda for formal action and that the item is not time sensitive. Council agreed with the staff approach and asked staff to prepare the ordinance language for a future meeting.