RED BANK – Municipal officials in Red Bank have taken action to prohibit the private use of fireworks in the borough.
During a meeting on Aug. 18, Borough Council members adopted an ordinance that supplements the municipal code by adding a chapter dedicated to fireworks. The new chapter prohibits the use of fireworks in Red Bank, except when their use is permitted by state law.
According to the ordinance, the council has found and declared that private fireworks displays present nuisances and dangers to individuals and property in Red Bank.
Through the ordinance, the governing body is seeking to provide the Red Bank Police Department with a local means of enforcement to curb what its members called an increasing problem of fireworks displays.
“Private fireworks displays place a burden on the Red Bank Police Department and also on the Red Bank Fire Department,” officials wrote in the ordinance. “There are few suitable locations for the safe and permitted discharge of fireworks within the borough.”
As noted in the ordinance, state legislators have determined that the sale, exposure for sale, use, distribution or possession of fireworks or pyrotechnics in New Jersey, unless under limited and specific conditions, is against the public health, safety and welfare of the state’s residents.
Local governing bodies are allowed by the state to grant a permit for the purchase, possession and public display of fireworks, according to the ordinance.
Under the terms of Red Bank’s ordinance, it is illegal for an individual to sell, offer for sale, expose for sale, possess or use, or explode any type of firework.
Similarly, toy guns and other devices with paper/plastic caps containing 0.25 grain or less of explosive compound per cap or less than 0.20 grains of explosive mixture per cap are prohibited. The ordinance also prohibits sparkling devices and similar novelties.
According to the ordinance, the municipal regulations do not apply to the borough itself or to other government units. However, fireworks displays from the borough or other government units must still comply with state regulations.
Any individual who violates the prohibition on private fireworks will be subject to imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, a fine not exceeding $2,000 or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.