Benton To Consider Allowing Fireworks

The city of Benton outlawed the sale and detonation of fireworks five years ago, citing the public nuisance the firecrackers posed to the people.

Now, a repeal of that ordinance could be on the table, and if it's up to public comment, opinions on the matter could be highly divisive.

Katherine Wishard has been in the fireworks business for more than a decade.
She's developed a loyal customer base that knows exactly where to find her and her roman candles, sparklers and smoke bombs.

"I have a good group from Bryant," she said. "They come to my tent every year."

Currently, Wishard is one of about two dozen fireworks stands in Saline County, primarily in Bryant, Alexander and Haskell.

All of the stands surround Benton, which in 2004, outlawed the sale and detonation of fireworks in its city limits.

But a proposed ordinance, recently introduced by Alderman Greg White, would repeal that ban and open Benton up to the bottle rocket big tops you see along I-30.

It would allow the sale of fireworks for two weeks before July 4th and New Year's Eve and allow shooting fireworks for three days around both holidays.

It's an idea, Alderman David Sparks says will likely be met with resistance.

"There's a lot of elderly people in the area, and in my ward, they're looking at a lot of nuisance and noise," he said.

But Alderman Brad Moore contends the ban on detonating fireworks is almost impossible to enforce. So he says why not lift it and begin generating revenue for the city.

"We collect 1.5 percent sales tax," he said. "One cent goes to the general fund, a quarter-cent to streets and a quarter-cent to parks."

Moore says if fireworks sales in Benton totaled $2 million, the city would see about $30,000 in sales tax revenue. That's enough, he says, to pay for a new police cruiser -- or to pay the salary of one city code enforcement officer.

If passed, the law would likely go into effect New Year's of 2010.