FVRD board asks staff to prepare bylaw on potential fireworks ban; First Nations exempt

“I look forward to the staff report on this. I am very aware that we are not looking to regulate the sale on the First Nations land. We are definitely looking into what we can do as far as the bylaw in our areas,” he said.

Director Taryn Dixon, representing Cultus Lake, Columbia Valley, Lindell, and Soowahlie First Nation in Area H, said she wasn’t sure she could support the motion because adding more projects to FVRD staff diverts them away from their existing work.

“I certainly understand what they’re wanting,” Dixon said. “Every time we come new with a new activity for staff, it pushes something off the existing work plan. We have a strategic planning session coming up. It just feels like this is just one more thing for staff.”

Graham Daneluz, director of planning and development for FVRD, acknowledged that staff have a very work aggressive work plan ahead of them. He did say staff could accommodate bringing forward a plan potentially for implementation in 2024.

Mission mayor Paul Horn said his municipality has had a fireworks bylaw in place but lacked adequate capacity to sufficiently enforce its municipal regulation.

“We’ve run into this challenge in Mission frequently where we have a bylaw, but we can have very low capacity to enforce it because people are lighting these things at times of the day and situations where we just can’t a deploy a bylaw officer to go in to enforce the law. In some ways, it’s created frustration. If the motion passes, would the report take a look at the practical and financial realities of trying to enforce this?”

CAO Jennifer Kinneman acknowledged there were challenges associated with these types of bylaws for regional districts with a large geographical area, like FVRD.

Councillor Bud Mercer, representing the City of Chilliwack on the FVRD board, said preparing a report on implementing the bylaw shouldn’t require a mountain of work for FVRD staff.

“I’m not sure how much work there would actually be; all the information you require already exists. I can count 10 municipalities that have had the legal opinions and all the work. For me to comes down to the ability to enforce it. I think all the research for a report is already done. You can just change the title.”

CAO Kinneman said she believed this exact issue had already come before the regional district in the past. In terms of going forward with any kind of specific program, she said it would have to go into next year’s work plan.

Councillor Bud Mercer said fireworks bylaws won’t necessarily catch the bad guys.

“By making something prohibited by way of bylaw, it does take care of some of the people who follow the rules, but you’ll never catch everybody,” Mercer said.

Peter Adamo, representing Electoral Area B (Sunshine Valley, Laidlaw, Othello and Yale), asked if his electoral area could be added to the bylaw.

Kinneman said any report that would come forward would ideally include the possibility for any electoral area to be integrated.

“In the past we’ve had different initiatives in certain electoral areas that would like to opt out,” Kinneman said. “Certainly the rules would apply to you as well.”

The motion was passed by the FVRD board unanimously.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

FVRD board asks staff to prepare bylaw on potential fireworks ban; First Nations exempt

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