Huntington OKs Fireworks Show

A revised proposal for a spectacular Fourth of July beachfront fireworks display was approved by the Huntington Beach City Council on Tuesday.

It was a hard-fought victory for proponents, who want to offer residents and visitors a special show for the 100th anniversary of the city’s Independence Day parade. They had to win over skeptics who feared that the big crowds would cause traffic and safety problems.

The council’s 5-2 vote essentially gives the parade committee approval to raise funds for the offshore fireworks display. If the money isn’t raised, a show will most likely be held at a local high school, as it has been for the last several years. Undecided is what conditions, such as lighting and crowd control, will be imposed on the beachfront show.

The vote has “given us an opportunity to have a wonderful Fourth on the beach,” said Margie Bunten, chairwoman of the fireworks committee. “And this is the time to do it.”

The one-time fireworks show would be the largest in the city’s history, backers say, drawing an estimated crowd of at least 40,000. Its $50,000 cost would be covered by private donations.

After the council rejected the proposal last month, committee members met with Police Chief Kenneth W. Small and offered to pay for floodlights to illuminate the beach before and after the show. The lights would help police as they patrolled the crowded strand, supporters said, and alleviate concerns that a dark beach would foster drinking and violence.

Small, who has opposed a beachfront display, said Tuesday that he was against the lighting idea. “The problems outweigh the benefits,” he said, citing the generators needed, the fencing to protect them, the noise and possible fumes.

The city began hosting beachfront fireworks displays in the mid-1940s. The show was moved to Huntington Beach High School in the mid-1970s as crowds grew more disorderly and police in riot gear set up makeshift beachside jails.

Even without fireworks, downtown rowdiness has marred Fourth of July celebrations: Seven years ago, more than 500 people were arrested during a drunken spree in which fires were set and police cars overturned.

With clear memories of those days, the City Council had consistently rejected proposals to resume fireworks at the beach.

The city-appointed Fourth of July Parade Committee, however, said that this year’s anniversary of the parade deserved special consideration.