SEQUIM — Councilman Ted Miller failed to light a fuse under his colleagues for banning fireworks inside the city limit.
As his notion fizzled, he withdrew on Monday his motion to prepare such an ordinance, although other council members said they might consider the issue.
After Miller withdrew his motion, council members suggested that city employees poll Sequim residents via the city’s website, www.sequimwa.gov.
Miller met stiff opposition from Councilman Eric Erichsen, who said people who object to the noisemakers on the Fourth of July and New Year’s Day should “get over it.
“There are certain times when people shoot off fireworks,” Erichsen said.
“These are important days. This is a tradition that we should honor, not ban.”
Miller said he’d heard from many residents — especially those with pets — who dislike the explosions, even though most of them originate outside the city limit.
Councilwoman Laura Dubois agreed with Erichsen.
“It is a form of freedom of speech,” she said.
Councilman Ken Hays said that if people object to Sequim-area noisemaking, they should spend the Fourth of July on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula.
“What we have here is nothing,” he said. “Down there, they take fireworks really seriously.”
The Port Angeles City Council will consider limiting or banning consumer fireworks in January after it views a proposal from a citizen group that attended a council meeting last week to urge a ban.
Port Townsend is the only city on the North Olympic Peninsula to have enacted a fireworks ban.