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City of Oxnard to consider sweeping fireworks ordinance that would raise fines to $2,000
Summary
The City Attorney's Office presented a proposed ordinance that would ban most fireworks in the City of Oxnard, raise civil citation fines to $2,000 per occurrence, allow misdemeanor charges for certain violations and authorize immediate abatement and cost recovery, citing more than 1,000 annual complaints around July 4.
Elle McCarron, assistant city attorney, told the City of Oxnard Council on the item that the City Attorney's Office would present a proposed fireworks ordinance and recommended the council "approve and introduce by title only and waive further reading." McCarron said the measure responds to more than 1,000 fireworks-related complaints and service requests the city receives each year around the July 4 holiday.
The ordinance would amend multiple sections of the municipal code, repeal an existing fireworks resolution and create a new article to establish a comprehensive framework for regulating fireworks, pyrotechnics and production effects in the city. "The Proposed Fireworks Ordinance will increase the minimum fine for each violation from 1,000 to $2,000 per occurrence," McCarron said, adding that certain violations also could be prosecuted as misdemeanors.
Why it matters: the proposal moves civil-penalty amounts into the ordinance so the public and any judicial reviewer can find penalties in one place, and it aligns local enforcement with recent changes to state law. McCarron cited a 2023 amendment to state law and a California Attorney General opinion that, she said, authorize cities to regulate fireworks and to set civil citation amounts consistent with the Health and Safety Code.
What the ordinance would do: it would (1) repeal the current fireworks fines set by resolution 15162; (2) revise the process council uses to set fines under chapter 7 of the city code; (3) repeal the current fireworks prohibitions in article 8; and (4) create a new article that broadly prohibits the sale, possession, transport, display and use of dangerous fireworks, fireworks kits and California "safe-and-sane" fireworks unless used in a permitted public display. McCarron described examples of "dangerous fireworks," including firecrackers, rockets, M-80s and aerial shells.
Enforcement and penalties: the ordinance establishes three enforcement pathways. First, civil citations carrying a $2,000 fine per occurrence; unpaid civil citations could be turned over to collections or pursued in small claims. Second, certain fireworks violations may be charged as misdemeanors, which McCarron said are subject to different statutory limits and can carry up to $1,000 in fines and/or six months in jail. Third, California safe-and-sane fireworks could be treated as infractions or subject to civil citations carrying $250 per occurrence. McCarron also said prohibited fireworks use would be declared a public nuisance subject to immediate abatement without notice, with abatement costs charged to the responsible person.
Legal and procedural notes: McCarron referenced California Government Code provisions that generally limit civil citation fines and explained that fireworks are an exception under state law. She also said that moving the penalties into the ordinance will make them easier to locate and enforce, and that the City Attorney's Office would be authorized to prosecute misdemeanors of the city code rather than relying on the district attorney for state-code prosecutions.
Council next steps: McCarron closed by inviting council questions; in the transcript she framed the staff recommendation as asking the council to introduce the ordinance by title and waive further reading. The transcript records no council vote or formal action on the item.
