Brecksville to seek resident input on fireworks law - cleveland.com

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- The city will seek opinions from residents before deciding whether to continue its longstanding ban on discharging fireworks except by licensed professionals.

However, city officials seem inclined to opt out of Ohio House Bill 172, which allows Ohio residents to set off fireworks on and around July 4 and other holidays. The bill, which became law in November, gives individual municipalities the option of adopting their own rules or banning fireworks altogether.

“I think opting out from the law would be the best solution, based on my experience in the community all these years,” Mayor Jerry Hruby told City Council’s Legislation Committee Feb. 15.

Other communities also have picked up the fireworks discussion since the passage of HB172. North Royalton City Council will decide over the next few weeks, or perhaps months, whether to allow residents to shoot off fireworks.

Broadview Heights City Council enacted legislation in January that kept the city’s existing fireworks law in place. Under that law, residents aren’t permitted to sell or discharge fireworks unless they are licensed manufacturers, wholesalers or exhibitors.

In Brecksville, city code now states that no one can possess, sell or discharge fireworks in town unless they are licensed to do so.

Brecksville Police Chief Stanton Korinek reported to the legislation committee Feb. 15 that the city has received an average of 23 fireworks complaints annually over the past three years. Most of those complaints occurred during the summer, especially during the week of July 4.

Korinek said police responded to every fireworks complaint except for two, when they were busy on other calls. Officers never took enforcement action, only asked the offenders to stop igniting fireworks.

Korinek said that in his 28 years as a Brecksville police officer, he didn’t recall anyone suffering an injury or property being badly damaged due to fireworks.

Fire Chief Nikola Zamiska said that about three weeks earlier, fire chiefs throughout Cuyahoga County met at the State Fire Marshal’s office in Columbus to talk about fireworks. At that time, the only municipalities that had opted out of HB172 were Broadview Heights and University Heights, although some communities were considering partial opt-outs, for certain holidays.

Zamiska said that in his 20 years with the Brecksville Fire Department, the city experienced one major incident with fireworks. Young children once set a field on fire with fireworks, but firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze.

Committee members Ann Koepke and AJ Ganim said residents have complained to them about fireworks waking their newborn babies and scaring their pets.

Koepke said she has heard from constituents who want the city to opt out of HB172, but hasn’t heard from anyone wanting to opt in.

Hruby said the city will seek input from residents on the fireworks issue through the Brecksville Bulletin, which publishes six times a year. He added that council should consider scheduling a public hearing about fireworks.

Committee Chairperson Beth Savage said the city might can also solicit opinions from residents on the Brecksville website.

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source: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2022/02/brecksville-to-seek-input-from-residents-on-fireworks-law.html

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