Shooting off bottle rockets or Roman candles in the city of Dunwoody will soon be restricted to shorter hours following the passage of a 2018 state law.
The City Council considered on first read at its April 22 meeting to amend its noise ordinance to restrict the exploding of consumer fireworks to the hours between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., except on certain holidays designated by the state. The second and final read of the ordinance is slated for May 6.
Those holidays given exceptions by state law are Jan. 1, the last Saturday and Sunday in May, July 3-4, the first Monday in September and Dec. 31 of each year. State law allows the exploding of fireworks on these days between 10 a.m. and midnight and to 1 a.m. on Jan. 1.
The General Assembly approved in 2015 a controversial fireworks law that legalized the sale and use of fireworks with few limits on their use, regardless of the noise and fire safety differences between rural, urban and suburban areas, Dunwoody and other cities were required to follow the state law.
But a torrent of noise complaints from many cities led to a new bill passed in 2018 that put some control back in the hands of local governments. The bill’s lead sponsor was state Sen. Deb Silcox (R-Sandy Springs).
The bill allows cities or counties to apply any existing noise ordinance during the fireworks hours and essentially limit the hours fireworks can be used.