The city of Warrenton has expanded the number of days that residents can legally shoot fireworks around the Fourth of July holiday.
Starting this year, fireworks will be allowed from July 1 …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The city of Warrenton has expanded the number of days that residents can legally shoot fireworks around the Fourth of July holiday.
Starting this year, fireworks will be allowed from July 1 through July 5 in Warrenton, expanding from the two-day window that the city previously had. Warrenton aldermen voted unanimously on April 5 to approve the change to the city’s fireworks ordinance.
The topic of fireworks is almost an annual debate for Warrenton aldermen, who have the unenviable job of balancing the wants of residents who have very different opinions about fireworks. In the months leading up to Fourth of July, aldermen will often comment that residents have asked them to loosen the city’s rules on fireworks. After the holiday, they hear from a different group of residents who complain about the major noise disturbance caused by late night fireworks (the phrase “sounds like a warzone” gets used quite a bit around this time).
In discussions leading up to the rules change, Mayor Eric Schleuter said he had received similar comments to years past, asking for more days and later times to shoot fireworks.
“A two-day window of being able to shoot sometimes isn’t all that great, especially when our sales are from June 20 to July 10,” Schleuter commented.
Ward 3 Alderman Jeff Jaspering noted that surrounding areas already have a broader tolerance for fireworks, so a more restrictive policy doesn’t necessarily reduce disturbances.
“Truesdale is already doing it. People in Warrenton are going to see the stuff from Truesdale,” Jaspering commented.
To prevent the worst potential disturbances from fireworks, the updated ordinance keeps restrictions on what time of day that fireworks can be detonated. On July 1, 2, and 5, fireworks can be set off from noon to 11 p.m. On July 3 and 4, fireworks can be used from noon until midnight (an expansion of one hour later compared to previous years).
In another change, Aldermen have also deregulated fireworks for New Year’s celebrations, allowing fireworks to be shot precisely at midnight on December 31.
