No Decision Yet on Dorney Park Nightly Fireworks

After more than three hours of testimony on the South Whitehall Township Zoning Hearing Board will resume the proceedings on Monday.

Board Chairman Don Klein adjourned the hearing shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday and said objectors to the amusement park's plan would have an opportunity to testify and be cross-examined at 7 p.m. Monday. More than 70 people crammed into the township building's meeting room.

Dorney Park wants to have nightly fireworks from June 29 to Aug. 25 and is appealing the township's interpretation of a zoning ordinance that classifies the fireworks as a nuisance and potential safety concern in the commercial residential neighborhood.

Jason McClure, vice president and general manager of Dorney Park, said the nightly fireworks show would not be as long or loud as the three holiday fireworks shows held at the park on Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day.

The nightly shows would start between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., last for five minutes and use three-inch shells that shoot color fireworks about 300 feet in the air, McClure said.

By contrast, he said, the holiday shows are about 20 minutes long and use five-inch shells that display color fireworks 500 feet in the air, and "salutes." incendiary devices that emit a loud bang.