The nightly bangs and pops of fireworks in the neighborhood leaves Terri Remley in no mood to celebrate.
A proposed ordinance coming before the Crawfordsville City Council hopes to cut the fuse on residential fireworks, except on and around the Fourth of July, New Year’s Eve and the Chinese New Year.
“The fireworks you’re hearing now isn’t just the fireworks they had when my dad was here. This is like bomb-types that rattle windows, scare dogs, that woke me up the other night about 11 and I had to run downstairs because my 18-year-old dog was shaking,” Remley said in support of the ordinance during Tuesday’s City Council Committee meeting.
Following a growing number of complaints from residents, Mayor Todd Barton asked the council to add fireworks to the specific types of noises listed in the noise ordinance.
“Fireworks noise has made its way into probably the top five things we hear about now,” Barton said, adding the city is not against residents shooting off legal firecrackers.
“I think what we’re hearing from the citizenry is, ‘We want some regulation on when this can and cannot happen and it seems to just kind of go on and on and on,’” he said.
Around Independence Day, legal fireworks would be allowed in residential areas from 5 p.m. to midnight June 29-July 3 and July 5-9, according to a draft of the ordinance.
Fireworks could be set off from 10 a.m. to midnight on July 4 and on New Year’s Eve from 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. New Year’s Day.
As part of Chinese New Year celebrations, fireworks would be allowed from 3 to 9 p.m. on Chinese New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and the following three days. The holiday falls on Feb. 12 in 2021.
First-time violators could be fined $100, according to the proposed ordinance. The penalty for a second violation increases to $250. For the third and all violations afterward, it’s a $500 fine.
The council’s ordinances and petititons committee forwarded the proposal to the full council with a favorable recommendation. First reading is expected Monday.
Indiana allows consumer fireworks to be set off from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day throughout the year and until midnight on state holidays, but local communities can set stricter rules.
Cities and towns cannot prohibit the consumer use of fireworks at certain times on and around July 4 and on New Year’s Eve.
Elston Grove resident Steve Frees welcomed the city’s tougher restrictions. Frees said residents have been setting off fireworks every night in his area since the end of May.
“I’m not able to take our dog for a walk, which I’ve always done about 8 every evening,” he told the committee. “The only exercise I get is the dog can walk two blocks and then the firecrackers start and we run home.”
Pet care owner Amy Spencer, who lives near downtown, said the noise also disrupts her schedule.
“I drive ... all over the county and that’s not good to do when I’ve only had a couple hours of sleep because of the fireworks,” Spencer said.
In other business:
• An ordinance setting the salaries for the mayor, clerk-treasurer, city council, appointed officers and employees in 2021 received a favorable recommendation from the fiscal affairs. No changes were made to the salaries due to uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, Barton said.
