SOUTH BEND, Wash. — A majority of Pacific County commissioners appear to be unswayed by the continued push from local residents for a ban on the sale and use of consumer fireworks on the Long Beach Peninsula.

However, the county could move to place a binding measure on the hot-button issue on the November ballot.

At a fireworks workshop hosted by the Pacific County Commission last week, supporters of a consumer ban on the peninsula continued their long-standing push. And while they have scored major victories with Ilwaco and Long Beach adopting bans within municipal boundaries in the past couple of years, resistance at the county level remains stiff.

Two commissioners, Lisa Olsen and Jerry Doyle, made clear during the workshop that they remain opposed to a complete ban on consumer fireworks on the peninsula, while David Tobin, who represents the peninsula-based seat on the commission, said he would probably support such a ban despite some reservations.

But after a nonbinding advisory vote on the April ballot saw support for a consumer ban clock in at 51.1% in the peninsula’s unincorporated areas — short of the 60% support that commissioners said they were seeking in order to move forward with adopting a ban — the commissioners and county officials signaled that they may support placing a binding measure on the ballot this November, leaving the decision squarely in voters’ hands.

At the workshop, supporters continued to hammer home arguments that they’ve been making for several months, or in some cases years, as to why the commissioners should support a ban.

Among other things, they contended that: the use of fireworks is posing more of a fire danger as summers continue to get drier and drier; the chemicals used in fireworks are bad for the environment and wildlife; the beach is left in a sorry state in the aftermath of the July 4 holiday; lawless behavior has become more commonplace during the holiday in recent years; and the noise from fireworks has a negative effect on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and pets.

Diana Thompson, an Oysterville resident and former Pacific County PUD No. 2 commissioner, invited Olsen and Doyle to stay the night at her house on July 4 to experience it themselves. She also noted that the issue of camping on the beach wasn’t resolved overnight when it was banned, but that it has become much more manageable and less prevalent in the years since.

Commissioners sought to hear feedback from both those in support and opposed to a fireworks ban, but just a couple of people spoke in opposition at the two-hour workshop on June 14. Long Beach resident Jeff Harrell, an owner of Peninsula Pharmacies and other enterprises, criticized the timing of the workshop, which began at 9 a.m., and said the reason why more people opposed to the ban weren’t attending the meeting is because they were at work.

“We’re supplying hundreds if not thousands of jobs to people right now, and we’re working on big economic developments both here in Long Beach, the county and at the Port of Ilwaco,” Harrell said. “We do have our opinion and we will get it to the commissioners either via letter or whatnot, but just so you know, we’re not there not because we’re just throwing our hands up and giving up. We’re not there because we’re actually working.”

Doyle and Tobin, as well as Paul Plakinger, the county’s administrative officer, each expressed vocal support for placing a binding vote on this fall’s ballot, where peninsula voters would decide the issue once and for all in what they hope would be a higher turnout election than the April vote. Only a simple majority would be needed for a ban to be passed, in this case.

“If the people ban it, so be it,” Tobin said. “The majority has spoken.”

Proponents of the ban complained that if the commissioners take this course and the ban is approved, it wouldn’t go into effect until 2025 because state law dictates that any restrictive action on fireworks taken by counties or cities cannot go into effect until a year has passed. That reality is why supporters of a ban have been urging commissioners to act this month, while a ban could still go into effect in time for next summer.

For now, the commissioners and county officials are focused on getting the word out to the public — particularly visitors — about the fireworks changes that are going into effect for this upcoming Fourth of July holiday. In December 2021, the commission voted to restrict the sale of fireworks to four days and the discharge of fireworks to three days over the holiday period — down from the previously allowed eight days, the maximum allowed under state law.

Commissioners also argued that they should wait and see what effect the new restrictions in the peninsula’s unincorporated areas have over these next few weeks before taking any further action on the issue.

The sale of fireworks is allowed from July 1 to July 4 this year in the peninsula’s unincorporated areas, while the discharge of fireworks is permitted from July 2 to July 4. In Long Beach city limits, the sale of fireworks will be allowed from June 29 to July 3, and discharge will be permitted from June 30 to July 4. The sale and discharge of fireworks is prohibited in Ilwaco.