HOLDEN, Maine — The owners of Big Bang Boom Fireworks Co. gained planning board approval Wednesday night for the town’s first fireworks store, and are already scheduled to go before the Town Council on Monday for a municipal permit, required before they can open.
Bangor residents Sean and Virginia MacMillian are renovating the former Gillie’s Truck Caps building and property at 820 Main Road for the 5,000-square-foot retail fireworks store.
The site will be paved on Friday and that is the day the sign also is scheduled to arrive, Sean MacMillian said after the meeting.
“Things are going along pretty good,” he said.
Planners held a public hearing before they voted and no one from the public, which included Town Councilor Robert Harvey and two others presenting another project, made any comments.
“This is easy,” Chairman Jeffrey McBurnie said just before closing the public hearing.
Another public hearing, hosted by the Town Council, is planned for 6 p.m. Monday and is required before town leaders consider the municipal permit request, Town Manager John Butts said last month.
Holden allows fireworks, but requires those who want to sell them to get a municipal permit, he explained.
Butts gave town councilors an overview of the project in October and the MacMillians also introduced themselves and were available to answer questions.
Planners approved four waivers for the MacMillians’ project last month, and asked them to provide some additional information covering the septic system, storm water management, outside lighting and sign design, as well as wetland and endangered species identification for phase two.
To ensure the project moved forward, Town Planner Steve Condon suggested planners approve phase one of the project and hold another public hearing and site plan review of phase two, the disc golf portion of the project, at next month’s meeting.
“He wanted to get open later this month,” Condon said, explaining his suggestion.
Planning board member Malcolm Coulter Jr. made a motion to approve the fireworks store and the rest of the panel unanimously agreed.
MacMillian, who owns the construction business MacMillian Excavation, was wearing a green Big Bang Boom Fireworks T-shirt under his suit jacket during Wednesday’s meeting.
“It’s a big building,” MacMillian said. “It’s the second largest store in the state.”
Gotta give a tip o’ the hat to anyone starting up a small business these days.
Hope they create at least a half-dozen jobs for local people, and have a thriving business so the taxes on their profits make things easier on the Town of Holden’s other residents.
And let’s hope that state/federal taxes and regulation are not too stultifying for this start-up; this is how our economy will heal, one small business at a time.
I’d be a lot more happy for the town of Holden if a machine shop with highly skilled people was opening up. These are minimum wage clerk jobs with no future.
The taxes from the profits go to Sate and Federal coffers, not Holden. That property would pay taxes even if it sat empty and was owned by the bank. I’m afraid that the only healing associated with a fireworks store will be from an injury.
People in this state crying they cant afford to heat the homes
People crying they cant afford food
People crying they cant afford gasoline
But they can afford to buy fireworks
“Sean MacMillian, front, explains details of phase two of his project, which includes a disc golf course…” That’s awesome, I’m getting tired of all the rif-raf at the one in Orrington!
People moaning about overly restrictive government rules when starting up a business, should take note, that this business has most likely been deprived of what could have been a large customer base – Brewer.
Some Brewer citizens managed to add restrictions to the city’s fireworks – permitted rule at the recent election. Noise from the explosion of fireworks as the nation celebrated July The Fourth once a year, was cited as the reason.
The ban restricts Brewer residents and their kids from exploding firecrackers in their own backyards. It will be interesting to see how many families are willing to accept this displacement, invest in fireworks, and truck everything into the woods for a one night blast.
Here’s a rule passed by the state, accepted by Brewer, restricted by a few people. In Bangor, the state rule is completely rejected. Waterfront noise, perfectly acceptable. Objections verboten.
All of the fireworks stores pass out safety instructions to the public when selling their wares. They recommend staying back 75 feet from any device being used. Tell me how you do that on many in town Brewer lots without sitting in your neighbor’s living room. “Rejected by a few people? 3100 voted for the limitations and 1700 voted not to change anything. That’s more than a few people..
How many state laws carry a provision allowing individual cities and towns to have their own rules on an issue-NOT MANY. The state knew that lots of people would not want to put up with fireworks on small city lots. That provision allows those cities and towns that want fireworks to have them. Newport residents voted to keep them last week.
All of this will come to a head when some really tragic accident occurs involving children. The public does not seem to have much sympathy for adults when they are injured while setting off fireworks-but a child blinded by these devices will cause another look at legal fireworks.
I don’t know where you live, but the use of fireworks has certainly not been limited to the 4th of July. In many neighborhoods in Brewer and around the state its all the time.Do you really think it’s fair for a young mother trying to put an infant to bed at 7 in the evening or 10 in the morning to have to put up with explosions 50 feet away in the next back yard?
These fireworks retailers are some of the same people that for years told city governments to spend large amounts on city sponsored shows with them “to keep it safe” for their citizens. What’s changed?
Most people don’t care much about this issue until it’s happening next door or right down the street. Enjoy it while you can, as somewhere in the not to distant future fireworks will once again be banned in our state.