Anaheim : Public Invited to Give Views on Fireworks

Residents are invited to give their views today on whether “safe and sane” fireworks should continue to be legal in the city.

A majority of the five-member City Council agreed last week that a vote should be taken on banning fireworks. But the officials couldn’t agree on what shape that vote should take.

Council members Miriam Kaywood and Ben Bay want the issue to go before the voters on the November ballot while Councilman E. Llewellyn Overholt Jr. said he wants it settled by council vote. Overholt, who until recently consistently opposed putting the matter to a vote, said he would side with Kaywood and Bay if his proposal fails.

If the fireworks ban is placed on the ballot, officials also must decide whether the vote would be advisory only, leaving the final decision up to the council.

The issue is an old one in Anaheim, where efforts to place proposed bans on the ballot have been unsuccessful in the past. This effort, however, comes on the heels of a July 3 fire that gutted 40 apartments and damaged at least 30 more. The fire at the Casa de Valencia Apartments--blamed on illegal fireworks--caused an estimated $2.2 million in damages.

During last week’s council meeting, most of approximately 35 residents attending indicated they favored keeping fireworks sales.

Today’s public hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Anaheim Civic Center, 200 S. Anaheim Boulevard.