BREWER, Maine — Lovely Properties LLC gained Brewer Planning Board approval on Monday to build the city’s first fireworks store, which owner Greg Lovely said he hopes to open in late November near the Brewer-Holden town line.
While planners discussed Lovely’s project, City Councilor Joseph Ferris made a move to ban the use of fireworks in the more populated areas of the city.
City leaders will discuss a proposed local referendum for November during their Tuesday night meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m.
“It’s an ordinance amendment that asks for a referendum vote on whether or not we would allow consumer fireworks in the zones other than the discharge of muzzleloaders-black powder zones,” Ferris said Monday. “It will be allowed there, either way.”
Residents who are at least age 21 are now allowed to use fireworks anywhere within the city, as long as they own the property or have permission to use the property. Under state law, fireworks can only be fired between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., except on certain holidays that have extended hours.
The local referendum vote in November, if approved, would restrict the use of fireworks to the city’s rifle-restricted area that lies between Wilson Street, halfway between Dirigo Drive and the road into Walmart, and the Holden town line and the Eddington town line to the north, basically along the power line and the eastern side of the Lambert and Day roads.
“One property owner shouldn’t be allowed to bombard another property owner,” Ferris said. “I think they belong on the outskirts of town and the willywags.”
If fellow city council members approve the local referendum at Tuesday’s meeting, residents will decide in November whether they want to restrict where fireworks can be used, he said.
On Jan. 1, the law banning fireworks in the state was lifted, and since that time neighboring Bangor and Holden, and at least 22 other Maine communities, have prohibited or placed restrictions on the sale or use of fireworks. Portland, South Portland, Brunswick, Ellsworth, Orono and Rockland are on the list with restrictions.
City planners on Monday approved the construction of a single story 1,600-square foot retail fireworks store at 972 Wilson St. for Lovely’s limited liability corporation. The shop will employ two people and is estimated to see an average of 71 customers per day.
Two residents spoke during the public hearing portion of the meeting about dangers they see with the location, which is about 1,500 feet from the end of Interstate 395.
Scott Braley of Plymouth Engineering presented the site plans and said Lovely has already applied for a new Maine Department of Transportation business driveway entrance permit needed for the property, which now has a small house and garage located on it.
City Engineer Frank Higgins also was asked to address the board about the traffic and possible problems with people turning left out of the new business, heading to Ellsworth and Bar Harbor.
“Yes, Route 1 is dangerous and there is a history,” he said, adding that is one reason why center turn lanes have been added to Wilson Street. “Center turn lanes actually save lives. I think this is an appropriate location for this.”
Brewer planners approved the project contingent on the MDOT entrance permit being approved.
Lovely, who owns several Newport businesses, including a fireworks store, said after he got approval for the Brewer fireworks store that he plans to hire a local contractor to build the new fireworks store.
I forget the name of the politician who succeeded in making this fireworks thing legal, but he should realize by now that it was a very bad idea. Where I live people set off fireworks every day, just about, and they carry on until the wee hours of the morning. My dog is so nervous from all that noise I am beginning to wonder if he’ll make it to 5 years old. More and more towns are pondering making it illegal once again. As for those who say, “it won’t be as bad next year,” they are full of it!
I can’t agree with you more. I live in Brewer and while it isn’t so bad now, the past two months were horrendous. Whatever the kids were throwing into the street from their front porches made such a bang, I’d wake up with my heart pounding.
The other night, Brewer had a public fireworks display and it startled me as well. But I knew the show would be over in 30 minutes or so (and it was actually quite nice!). The kids on my street, on the other hand, light their fire crackers sporadically over many hours, night after night (very unpredictable and a disturbance to the former peace and quiet of my neighborhood). I can’t wait for the vote on this issue.
You’re not the only one in Brewer who gets startled at the sound of fireworks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTHVKJhOhiI&list=UUQkG5JTmtC1h1ifS1qROzLw&index=2&feature=plcp
Brilliant isn’t it!
Cut tax revenue for fundemental services like Education / Police / Fire and then be sure provide everyone with their god given right to guns, booze, and fireworks!
That would be Doug Damon from Bangor where fireworks are illegal. He’s a nice man who had a well intended idea. He thought that Maine could use some of the taxes collected from the sale of fireworks to educate the public on how to use them safely. They’ve turned out be annoying to locals and tourists alike. Perhaps he’ll be the person to introduce legislation to rid our state of this problem. There was no big outcry from the public to legalize fireworks in the first place.
Well, I’m sure Doug Damon is reading the news on how people are bothered by all the racket. Now that school is back in perhaps we won’t hear as much noise, but next summer it is sure to begin all over again and it probably will get worse as all these fireworks stores set up shop all over the state. Where I live the town has no ordinance regarding noise. You can scream and fart all you want and they can’t serve you with a summons; so, we are at the mercy of the State lawmakers to reverse the fireworks law. As for taxes coming out of this; there has to be a better way for the state to generate revenue, such as applying the retail tax to stuff you buy on the internet from out of state.
This law won’t be reversed until Governor LePage is out of office. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs…Maine is open for business-any business. The local communities have to clean up the mess, collect some property taxes that they already were getting in most cases-the sales tax goes to the state.
You could ask that the town create a noise ordinance. That might happen quicker than waiting for the legislature to admit a mistake.
Problem is: the town manager is a big outdoorsman and likes guns, fireworks, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, etc. I do not have voting rights in this town so I’ll have to live with the noise for a few months out of the year. As for LePage, it will indeed be interesting to see if he gets a second term.
I’m surprised that someone in our state has not pursued legal action against a town or city based on local noise ordinances not being enforced by local authorities. Try running a lawn tractor at 10p.m.-someone must- they have headlights.
Gonna be fireworks in more ways than one. Well at least town meetings will not be so dull, they have passed most all the codes, building restrictions, blocks to one building his own house that they can think of, so now they got the fireworks to ban. I just hope some poor soul does not get arrested for farting in a public place.
Extremely bad analogy. No comparison.
Ban everything. It bothers me.
Early this year,.Massachusetts Legislators voted down a movement to legalize fireworks.
i cant prove it, but i would bet there is a ‘good number’ of disappointed Massachusetts residents that wanted fireworks legalized, that have or will be moving up here, to Maine where they are now legalized. In other words, expect more Mass you-know-whats moving into your town. Enjoy.
i doubt people are going to move to Maine just so they can have fireworks.
Back in May? June? When the Portland Press Harald had a story on the opening of the fireworks store in Scarborough, they featured a Saco restaurant owner who bought $5000 worth of firework for a huge party of over a 100 people. The newspaper mentioned he was a former Mass resident, so i assume they were alot of Mass plates at the party
so. that doesn’t mean they came here for the fireworks. that is ridiculous.
How ironic is this? A fireworks store in Brewer has to operate at a certain noise or decibel level so that they don’t annoy their neighbors.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turn my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
Leave it to Brewer to legalize the sale of something and then ban its use in their town. Make it somebody else’s problem. At least they’re consistently irresponsible.
Even the safety brochure given out at the fireworks stores asks customers to be at least 75 feet away from these devices. In many Maine neighborhoods this puts you in your neighbor’s kitchen. Brewer councilors are merely using some common sense as to where it’s safe to use fireworks. 50 x 100 foot lots exist all over Bangor and Brewer-that’s just too close for comfort for most folks.
Fireworks didn’t cause much of a problem until >someone< had the brilliant idea of making them legal.
So true. For years, occasionally someone would set off fireworks in Skowhegan .It was no big deal. Now the local yokel losers in everytown,maine, are setting them off at night because they do not have to get up in the morning to go to work., and the law is on their side.
Where are all the stories about the “carnage” that fireworks was going to cause skowheganresident? You posted over and over about the “carnage” and where is it? By the way, fireworks are legal in my town and the only time I have heard them is on weekends and not every weekend at that.
“Where are all the stories about the “carnage” that fireworks was going to cause skowheganresident”
Fireworks have only been legal for 9 months,it is still earlier. nevertheless:
-Standish man injured by short fireworks…suffered blunt trama to face
-Hirium man injured,picked up live fireworks
-Charleston man injured
-harpwell forest fire, out of control for 4 hours
-house fire in OOB , caused by fireworks, 3 firefighters injured
-man arrested near maine mall, car full of fireworks explosives
-car destroyed in portland, after fireworks toss in
-fireworks sets off fire in 2 neighbors property, ellesworth was it?
-skow pd hunted vandals tossing live fireworks on houses,late at night
-orono fire chief was on wabi, said there have been numerous grass fires set in area by fireworks
…the former state fire chief finally spoke out, he left because he was not allowed to speak out against dangers of fireworks
The above are incidents that come to mind.
Again, just 9 months fireworks have have been legal….vision what the list will be like in two more years of fireworks…
Hmmmm
“Maine fire marshal: So far, so good on fireworks”
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2012/07/05/maine_fire_marshal_so_far_so_good_on_fireworks/
Several of you examples are misleading at best. For instance:
-Standish man injured by short fireworks…suffered blunt trama to face
He modified the device after purchase. I would doubt modifications are not suggested by the manufacturer and are done at the purchases own risk.
~~~~
-Charleston man injured
The man was woman and no injury was reported in the paper.
~~~~
-house fire in OOB , caused by fireworks, 3 firefighters injured
Fire Marshall’s Office determined the cause were sparklers which have been legal in Maine for all of my 51 years.
~~~~
-man arrested near maine mall, car full of fireworks explosives
If you mean the man arrested with the car full of firearms headed to NH to kill his former boss there were no fireworks found. If you mean some other man I could not find any reference to this event.
~~~~
– fireworks sets off fire in 2 neighbors property
Couldn’t find a reference for this one either.
~~~~~
Again I will ask where is the “carnage” you claimed would occur. If I recall correctly you mentioned major bodily injuries would occur, children would be killed, etc…None of that has happened.
Fireworks have only been legal for 9 months.
I provided a laundry list of firework related problems they have caused from forest fires to grass fires to injuries to acts of vandalism to firefighters hurt in fires to injuries. Add the hundreds if not thousands of times local police across the state have responded to ‘fireworks complaints’ when they were being set off past 10pm
It is just a matter of time for the first kid in this state to be seriously injured or killed by fireworks.
Your laundry list misleading at best.
The house fire with injured firefighters was started by SPARKLERS which were legal prior to 2012 and have been for over 50 years.
The “man arrested near maine mall, car full of fireworks explosives” doesn’t exist.
The carnage you predicted that would occur over the Fourth of July didn’t occur. Have there been incidents? Yes. Have they been greater then prior years when fireworks were illegal? Doesn’t seem to be based on the lack of “carnage” in the headlines.
Look I get it…you don’t like fireworks. Petition your town to make them illegal then. That’s part of the law too.
The ‘sparkles’ that set off an early morning fire in OOB were bought at a fireworks store. They were not low grade sparkles sold at Walfart.
Maine has enough problems. It was dumb to go asking for more.
3 days ago:
http://leader.mainelymediallc.com/news/2012-09-07/In_the_Know/A_consumer_fireworks_reminder.html
Winslow legalized fireworks,next door Waterville banned them.
What is happening is Waterville residents are now going over to Winslow to set them off.
It is Wednesday night in Skowhegan,going on 830pm,its dark out, the residential roads are empty of vehicles,it seems everyone is inside. there are about a dozen homes in my neighborhood with little kids tucked away,sleeping, getting ready to be up for the school bus at 730am. It is so quiet, you can hear a pin drop in the silence.
I swear on my father’s gave this is true, some moron[s] are setting off fireworks now. The morons know the majority of the people in the neighborhood are in for the night,the morons know there are little kids that live in the neighborhood,nevertheless they are setting off fireworks. No one can call the police because the fireworks laws is on the side of the morons, not normal people that have lives.