SEQUIM — Sequim City Council members will hear from staff tonight regarding the potential for a fireworks display in Carrie Blake Community Park on the Fourth of July.
Council members directed staff to bring back more research on fireworks’ impacts and possible options regarding this year’s fireworks display.
Public Works Director Paul Bucich wrote via email that staff will ask council members if they want to continue with a Fourth of July fireworks display this year, stop doing city-led fireworks shows in 2026 and beyond, and if so, if they want staff to bring back an ordinance change to eliminate all professionally organized fireworks displays in city limits.
He said tonight’s discussion is not about banning public displays, but whether to continue with the 2025 Fourth of July fireworks display sponsored by the city.
“Cessation of fireworks display at city events does not under current code language prevent other events such as the Logging Show from having a display (with permit from the city),” he said.
The Sequim Logging Show’s fireworks display is still set for dusk in the park on May 9.
Bucich said staff also will calculate the distance as best as possible from the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s property, where there is a bald eagle’s nest, to the park, where fireworks are discharged.
“The issue is the potential for the noise of the fireworks to disturb nesting eagles within half-a-mile if they have not (been) acclimated to the sounds,” Bucich said.
That was one of many concerns from a handful of residents, who requested in February that council members stop fireworks displays. They cited potential impacts on birds and other wildlife, infants and people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and possible fires in neighboring Garry oak trees.
Staff also will see what other cities have implemented in regard to any environmental impact.
Last month, Bucich told council members an environmental impact study would be costly and not advised for such a specific investigation.
“An environmental assessment is a very specific term and not what we’re looking to do here,” he said.
If the city council agrees to not host a fireworks show this year, it could lose a $4,000 deposit, staff said.
Options
City staff recommended on March 24 a resident survey about fireworks. Council members supported the notion, but no action was taken.
Bucich said via email they haven’t settled on an outreach structure yet, but it will likely involve social media, the city’s website and some other method. He said they will not be conducting a formal advisory vote, similar to a November 2016 action, when the city asked residents if they wanted to ban the discharge of fireworks.
Residents voted 65.6 percent in favor at the time, and city council members agreed to ban the discharge of fireworks in 2017. The city-sponsored Independence Day fireworks display started in 2021.
Council members agreed last fall to ban the sale of commercial fireworks in city limits effective this October; however, permitted booth sales will be allowed one more summer from June 28-July 5.
Bucich said they will not be investigating any environmental impact of drones from the Sequim Sunshine Festival, and he told council members they wouldn’t consider replacing Fourth of July fireworks ($19,000) with drones due to cost ($35,000 for the Sunshine Festival).
Funds for both celebrations come from the city’s Lodging Tax fund.
Hannah Merrill, Sequim’s parks and events manager, said adding another drone show could make the Sunshine Festival’s show less of an anchoring event, but she said the city could consider enhancing the Fourth of July family experience with more daytime events if it bans fireworks.
Council member Harmony Rutter suggested investigating the idea of a carnival, similar to the Irrigation Festival.
City staff said there are no other suitable locations for a fireworks show within city limits other than Carrie Blake Community Park.
Impact
Those who spoke in February requesting a fireworks ban spoke again on March 24 questioning the city’s research, particularly a staff report stating there was not an eagle’s nest within a state map from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In the city’s report, staff wrote that under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the definition for disturbing the eagles “does not seem to be sufficient information to support a claim of the City violating the Act” due to the show’s 20- to 30-minute length, and because the state map didn’t identify an eagle’s nest.
Bucich told council members staff will seek more definitive answers on fireworks’ impact on eagles, including the distance from the fireworks area to the nest.
In February, the city revealed a letter from Department of Fish and Wildlife staff in September 2024 recommending the city move the fireworks show or switch to a drone show due to potential fire danger to the Garry oak trees.
Bucich said he reached out to their staff to see if the city was doing something wrong and if they were concerned about their method to prevent fires. He told council members there were no concerns as the city was watering the nearby area and monitoring to make sure there was no impact.
In regard to other health concerns with the ponds in Carrie Blake Community Park, he said they’re becoming a “human health issue” as birds continue to carpet the fields and walkways with feces.
“We have created an artificial habitat that we really need to start thinking carefully about how we’re managing that,” Bucich said.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
