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To: John Malenick, Fire Chief From: D. Drusch Date: 05/19/2008 Re: Retail Sales of Fireworks licensing I have received renewal applications for the Retail Sale of Fireworks from CUB and Wal-Mart. During the review, it was noted that City Ordinance 580.11(C) restricts the total quantity of consumer fireworks stored on any property cannot exceed 100 pounds. Since the ordinance does not specify, I have interpreted this as net weight. I cannot locate any source to explain or justify this particular amount. The only reference I can find in the State or National codes to weight is in NFPA 1124 - 7.1.3.1 which specifically exempts code requirements on amounts stored of less than 125 pounds .of pyrotechnic composition. Further, Minnesota Statute 624.20 states: "A local unit of government may not.., prohibit or restrict the display of items for permanent or temporary retail sale authorized under paragraph (c) that comply with National Fire Protection Association Standard 1124 (2003 edition);..." The Minnesota Legislature, late in the session, changed the fireworks legislation in 2003 allowing certain types of fireworks. This cause a lot of cities to scramble to establish local ordinances regarding fireworks usage and sales. There was a general sense among the fire service that cities would be inundated with requests for fireworks sales licenses. Additionally, NFPA 1124 (2003) had just been published and not widely available for reference. We have now experienced several years of the availability of consumer fireworks and its usage. While the first years showed several, requests for licensing there has been a decline in applications during the past two years. In fact, Wal-Mart & CUB are the only businesses that applied in 2007 and so far, they are the only two for 2008. Their applications typically request a maximum amount of between 350 to 400 pounds of pyrotechnic composition, Such a display is typically to 4 pallets of boxed material. This is also typical of what has been found in other communities. Due to oversight, these amounts have been permitted previously. NFPA 1124 (2003) is a national consensus standard that under goes rigorous evaluation. It is very thorough and leans heavily on fire & life safety aspects. I do not feel the City needs to enact any ordinance that further restricts its intent. / 4 St. Anth®ny Fire Dept. To: John Malenick, Fire Chief From: D. Drusch Date: 05/19/2008 Re: Retail Sales of Fireworks licensing I have received renewal applications for the Retail Sale of Fireworks from CUB and Wal-Mart. During the review, it was noted that City Ordinance 580.11(C) restricts the total quantity of consumer fireworks stored on any property cannot exceed 100 pounds. Since the ordinance does not specify, I have interpreted this as net weight. I cannot locate any source to explain or justify this particular amount. The only reference I can find in the State or National codes to weight is in NFPA 1124 - 7.1.3.1 which specifically exempts code requirements on amounts stored of less than 125 pounds .of pyrotechnic composition. Further, Minnesota Statute 624.20 states: "A local unit of government may not.., prohibit or restrict the display of items for permanent or temporary retail sale authorized under paragraph (c) that comply with National Fire Protection Association Standard 1124 (2003 edition);..." The Minnesota Legislature, late in the session, changed the fireworks legislation in 2003 allowing certain types of fireworks. This cause a lot of cities to scramble to establish local ordinances regarding fireworks usage and sales. There was a general sense among the fire service that cities would be inundated with requests for fireworks sales licenses. Additionally, NFPA 1124 (2003) had just been published and not widely available for reference. We have now experienced several years of the availability of consumer fireworks and its usage. While the first years showed several, requests for licensing there has been a decline in applications during the past two years. In fact, Wal-Mart & CUB are the only businesses that applied in 2007 and so far, they are the only two for 2008. Their applications typically request a maximum amount of between 350 to 400 pounds of pyrotechnic composition, Such a display is typically to 4 pallets of boxed material. This is also typical of what has been found in other communities. Due to oversight, these amounts have been permitted previously. NFPA 1124 (2003) is a national consensus standard that under goes rigorous evaluation. It is very thorough and leans heavily on fire & life safety aspects. I do not feel the City needs to enact any ordinance that further restricts its intent.