District of North Vancouver is moving forward to ban the sale, possession and use of fireworks in the district.
District also plans to regulate the sale of fireworks for public display, which will require a valid DNV business licence with conditions for sale.
The fireworks discharge will require a valid display event permit issued by the fire chief and a professional certification.
DNV council will debate the issue in an upcoming meeting on October 12.
Fireworks events will be allowed if conducted by a person certified as a Display Fireworks Supervisor, issued by Natural Resources Canada-Explosives Regulatory Branch (NRCan).
It was in October last year that Coun. Megan Curren brought forward a report that called for a ban on consumer fireworks and smoke generating pyrotechnic.
According to a DNV staff report, in the weeks leading up to and after the 2020 Halloween, Council received a several comments regarding fireworks.
Of 170 comments received, 89% were supportive of a ban.
Noise, concerns about pets, and danger were the top reasons cited in support of a ban, the staff report says.
RCMP crime statistics records indicate that the majority of complaints were noise complaints, and the majority were related to schools or parks, the report notes.
Last Halloween, multiple park washrooms in DNV were also damaged by firecrackers, and burns and potholes were left in turf fields, requiring resources to replace or repair them.
Staff were also required to disperse large groups discharging fireworks unsafely on grass sports fields, also requiring significant clean up, the report adds.
Both consumer firework discharge and sales are banned in the City of Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver.
“Setting off fireworks has long been enjoyed by many families in the District, however the noise, disruption to pets and wildlife, contribution to poor air quality, litter, damage to property and threat to public safety continues to be a serious concern for many residents,” says the report.
More social engineering from the Curran corner. God I detest holy workers.
You weren’t elected for this kind of thing Megan. Give us water. Give us sewer. Give us school buildings. Lower our taxes.
Keep your planners and bylaws office OUT OF MY NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Has Truth and Reconciliation Day taught you nothing?
Converting the great unwashed and unwilling to your religion is neither asked for by us or appreciated by any.
As if a bylaw could prevent vandals from vandalizing or buying fireworks at the nearest seller.
Anything that helps would be appreciated fireworks are let off not just on Halloween night but start about 2 week ahead and end about 2 weeks later. I live in a townhouse in our area they go off at all times of the day and night for days sometimes at 2 or 3 in the morning. It is riduculous. As per usual someone always spoilts it for everyone else. Just get rid of them period I for one have had enough lost sleep.
In my view the DNV should ban fireworks.
We are no longer the quiet well behaved North Shore.
Excessive damage to parks, freightened pets and wildlife and
fear in young children has been apparent over the years.
A reminder by our firefighters of the consequences of firecrackers
to safety concerns and the dedication they have to supporting the Burn
fundraiser in Stanley Park.
Fire works are not essential to our well being.
Neither are bike lanes essential to our well being Louise..or often aren’t even useful but I’m sure you won’t be supporting a ban on those.
A thing need not be essential to our well being in order to be an important part of our lives.
This is a huge social festival, one which has a history here and one that includes fireworks.
In my neighbourhood on more than one Hallowe’en neighbouring families got together and shared the cost of the fireworks show , met each other for the first time and had an enjoyable evening outdoors together.
I suppose this year you’d have bylaw officers cruising our block hoping to dish out fines.
Hi Lee! I’m sorry that this tradition is being taken from you. However, as noted in comments above, most people don’t just enjoy the one night. Those bad apples set off fire works all year long in my neighborhood. I have 2 dogs and one is a corgi who is extremely sensitive to sound because of his big ears. I give him a doggy sedative on Halloween because when he hears fire works he goes into panic and shoves himself in small places and shakes and cries for hours. Halloween night is predictable so is new years. But when those bad apples set them off randomly whenever they please what are we to do?
I don’t think we should take ur tradition away from you. But perhaps we can bam fire works all year long and only allow them for set nights such as Halloween or new years. This way thos who are against fire works can plan responsibly and those who wish to continue the tradition can as well given specific dates.
Well Katie…. I’m really not sure how you decide that ‘most people’ don’t enjoy the one night but let’s go along with that assessment for a minute and imagine just what you are going to do about it? There is already a ban on sales outside a few days before Hallowe’en and yet vandalism does seem to occur. Vandals are gonna vandalize regardless of a ‘ban’ since the fireworks are available elsewhere. How do I know this? Because there is and has been a ‘ban’ on firecrackers for many years in the District and yet you can’t seem to sleep. Maybe these people whose activities you think you can ‘ban’ will continue to just head down to a local firecrackers supplier ( they do exist despite the ‘ban’) . This extended ‘ban’ will only result in those who do comply with the bylaw being deprived of one of the few real festivals we have around the lower mainland.
Noone is sure if it came from Guy Fawkes Day or Hallowe’en but the tradition is that we use fireworks on Hallowe’en and although this tradition may mean little to a person who grew up in the USA (Megan Curran) , it doesn’t mean little to MOST PEOPLE who grew up here. (Myself) and a great many others who did not.
Shall we ignore these people and also ban children’s annoying door knocking on the day of the festival despite the constant racket and threats of razor blades in apples circulated ever since TV came to Vancouver? Will Curran next be demanding that costumed children be kept home and be replaced with bylaw officers cruising our neighbourhoods?
I’ve had it with the No to Everything Holy Workers like Curran and her ilk. They should be de-elected. Is there a municipal government recall procedure available to us?
Didn’t they just review this last year? Banning them won’t change a thing if everyone can still buy them on First Nations land. It would be smarter to designate a few gravel fields as safe places to light them off. The current rule only allows them on private property, which is impossible (and unsafe!) for most residents.
The current bylaw restricts the use of fireworks to 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm on October 31, subject to users having a permit. Scofflaws ignore the current bylaw because there is no provision for enforcement. Unless there are budget provisions for evening enforcement of a ban of on purchasing, possessing and using fireworks, the new bylaw, if passed, will be as irrelevant as the current one. While I do support the ban on fireworks, I fear that it is just more window dressing by a council that is long on words but short on action.
One night of fun for you, and terrified animals everywhere. Never mind domestic animals that are indoors and still shake in fear. What about all the wild animals? All for what? So many people like to cite “tradition” as if that’s a reason. There were many “traditions” in the past that people would now find appalling. What a selfish “tradition” fireworks are. I grew up in California and I remember spending my first halloween here and wondering what the heck was going on. It makes no sense. And nobody seems to even know why they’re doing it. They just know they’ve always done it. It’s currently after 10pm (the supposed curfew) and people are still setting them off constantly. RCMP does nothing about this. Why don’t we just ban them completely. I don’t think allowing them at all is fair to animals. But even giving these firework hungry people a window to torture animals isn’t enough for them.