Lawndale Agrees to Add More Fireworks Booths

In answer to the pleas of numerous Lawndale youth and service organizations that vie each year for city permission to operate lucrative July 4 fireworks booths, the City Council has agreed informally to increase the number of booths it authorizes and to impose less-strict requirements for groups seeking to participate.

This is the 12th time in 22 years the city has modified its fireworks ordinance. Each time the council has made changes in eligibility requirements, groups that were excluded have protested that the changes were too restrictive, so further changes were made.

City fireworks booths are in demand because with a few days’ work, local groups can raise as much as $20,000 for their charities, Councilman Larry Rudolph said at Thursday’s council meeting.

The council informally agreed that to satisfy more groups, the city should increase the number of fireworks stands to eight from the current six; four booths will be designated for youth groups and four will be for service clubs.

Because there are not enough large meeting rooms to accommodate all the local groups, the council has dropped the requirement that groups must hold their meetings in Lawndale to qualify. Also, the council agreed to require that one-third, rather than one-half, of a group’s members be Lawndale residents and that a group have been active in Lawndale for five years or more.

The council asked the city staff to incorporate the new requirements in a draft ordinance expected to be voted on at the Nov. 17 council meeting.