The Mount Pleasant Town Council this week poured water on a proposed fireworks ban around the Pitt Street Bridge.
“My concern is that that area is so tight that there is no place to get away if something goes wrong,” said Councilman Elton Carrier.
Already the bans fireworks in Waterfront Memorial Park, and so Carrier wanted to apply the ban to Pitt Street, which is essentially a long grassy park that extends into the water.
“We’ve had many close calls there,” Carrier said. “I think another fireworks-free area should be considered there.”
The ban failed in a 4-4 vote. Mayor Billy Swails said he opposed the proposal.
“I just think fireworks are American, like apple pie and Chevy trucks,” he said.
Carrier, Nick Collins, Craig Rhyne and Thomasena Stokes-Marshall voted for the ban. Swails, John Burn, Linda Page and Ken Glasson voted no. Paul Gawrych was absent at the meeting, but tied votes do not pass.
The proposal wasn’t Mount Pleasant’s first foray into banning fireworks. The town had a citywide ban on pyrotechnics years ago, but the law was struck down after a lawsuit challenged the ordinance.
South Carolina has since changed its laws and ruled that municipalities cannot ban fireworks across the entire town, but they may ban them in certain areas.
In 2009, the town considered a ban in the historic district after a New Year’s Eve fire caused massive damage to a home. A youngster throwing a firework onto a porch apparently caused the blaze.
Carrier said he does not plan to introduce the ban again.
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