Syracuse City Council Special Business Meeting on Fireworks Ban – June 29, 2026
Syracuse City Council Special Business Meeting on Fireworks Ban – June 29, 2026
The Syracuse City Council held a special business meeting on June 29, 2026, to discuss the governor's executive order regarding fireworks and to decide whether to allow personal fireworks discharge within the city for the July 4th holiday. The meeting included an invocation, pledge of allegiance, factual clarifications from the mayor, public comments from residents and interested parties, and a council discussion. The council ultimately decided to lift the ban in lower-risk areas, subject to restrictions based on a map prepared by the fire chief and staff.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Eric Willison (via email): Expressed support for a cautious approach allowing fireworks only in areas sufficiently separated from open fields and combustible areas, and emphasized clear communication and proper disposal. (Position: Support for partial restrictions)
- Mary Dean (via email): Opposed allowing personal fireworks, citing numerous fires and the risk to firefighters' lives. (Position: Opposed to allowing fireworks)
- Sharon Watson (1765 West 2770 South, Syracuse): Advocated for a common-sense approach, noted Syracuse's low historical fire risk, and emphasized freedom and agency. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
- Devin Alred (1258 South 4465 West, Syracuse): Supported allowing fireworks, noted that Richfield (near active fires) is allowing them, and argued for freedom and personal responsibility. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
- Unnamed speaker (last year in community): Described personal tradition and opposition to government overreach, emphasizing safe use and history. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
- Jeremy Berry (3421 West 2280 South, Syracuse): Expressed concern about aerials and debris, particularly in dry conditions, but did not explicitly call for a total ban. (Position: Concerned, but not outright opposition)
- Dan (1982 South 800 West, Syracuse): Supported allowing legal fireworks with common sense, noting that illegal fireworks are already prohibited. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
- Unnamed speaker (2115 South 1300 West, Syracuse): Emphasized personal responsibility and that illegal fireworks cause problems, not legal ones. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
- Kyle (North Ogden, fireworks industry) : Noted that Utah's regulations are reasonable and that current weather conditions are mild compared to past years. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
- Steve Ross (850 West 350 South, Syracuse): Supported the governor's ban but asked that common sense be considered, noting that most users are responsible. (Position: Leaning toward allowing with restrictions)
- Scott (Draper, not a Syracuse resident): Thanked the council for the opportunity to speak, supported allowing fireworks with adjustments to restricted areas. (Position: Support for allowing fireworks)
Discussion Items
- Mayor's Opening Remarks: Provided factual clarifications: fireworks are still sold legally; discharge is not legal until July 2nd; professional shows unaffected; governor's order does not allow cities to change discharge dates; Syracuse has never qualified for a historical fire danger ban; most open lands are outside city limits; farm fields remain high-risk; governor's order only extends through July 5th. The council had three options: uphold the ban, lift in lower-risk areas, or lift blanketly.
- Fire Chief Aaron Byington Presentation: Reviewed surrounding communities' decisions (most are allowing fireworks with restrictions). Drove the city over the weekend to identify high-risk areas: agricultural fields, heavy vegetation, homes under construction, unkempt properties. Supported two options: restrict areas with high risk, or uphold the ban. Noted that historically, Syracuse has had fireworks-caused fires, but they are manageable. Staffing and safety plans are in place: extra fire and police staffing, a brush truck, and code enforcement for weed abatement.
- Council Comments:
- Councilmember Brett: Supported a restricted plan if fire chief deems risk manageable and staffing adequate. (Position: Support for restricted allowance)
- Councilmember (unidentified): Initially leaned toward restriction but after consideration chose freedom over safety, willing to support partial restriction. (Position: Support for partial restriction)
- Councilmember (unidentified): Favored option B (partial restriction) per the packet, expanding restricted areas based on fire chief's recommendations. (Position: Support for partial restriction)
- Councilmember (unidentified): Agreed option two is reasonable, trusts citizens to do the right thing. (Position: Support for partial restriction)
- Councilmember (unidentified): Noted low historical fire risk, green lawns from watering, freedom of choice, and well-prepared fire department; favored lifting the ban entirely. (Position: Support for full lifting)
- Mayor's Presentation of Map: Presented a draft map showing restricted areas: near farm fields >1 acre, county lands (already banned), parks, churches, schools, large commercial spaces, and a neighborhood near unkept wild spaces. Estimated 85-95% of residential neighborhoods would be open for fireworks. Emphasized that the map is not final and that the decision is to lift the ban in lower-risk areas, not to ban in other areas.
Key Outcomes
- Decision: The council reached consensus to lift the fireworks ban in lower-risk areas, with restrictions on high-risk areas as shown on the map. The fire chief will finalize the map with the mayor's input.
- Next Steps: The city will release an official map and communications by 5:00 PM the following day (June 30). The council directed staff to emphasize that fireworks carry inherent risk and that residents should be cautious and respectful of neighbors.
- Vote: No formal vote was recorded; the mayor stated the decision was made by consensus of the council, with the fire chief's support. The meeting was adjourned after the discussion.
Meeting Transcript
It's on the future. You can that is your that is your uh ancillary roles. That is my ancillary role. I mean, I played one of the TV. See Alex's so he's gonna have two officers. Uh we may be not five minutes early or late. It's my dad's attitude. Okay, it is six o'clock, so I'm gonna call this meeting to order. This is a special business meeting of the Syracuse City Council. In a special business meeting, we will begin with an invocation, which I will deliver and then Abe, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance after that? I would our Father in Heaven. We are grateful to come together as a city council to uh debate the issues of the city and find a process forward that uh we hope will serve all of our citizens well. We're grateful for the many blessings and bounty that we have in this city. We're grateful for the prosperity of the community. We're grateful for the blessings of moisture when we can get it, and we're grateful for the blessings of uh a great city to live in and um the prosperity that we enjoy. At this time, we pray for thy spirit to be with us that we will be able to debate respectfully and discuss the issue at hand and come to a conclusion that we can all accept. And I say these things humbly in the name of thy son Jesus to Christ, amen. I pledge ladies to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic for which one nation under God in this law with team and justice for all, ladies and gentlemen. The special meeting has been called to deal with the governor's announcement that it has changed the fireworks situation for the year. I want to be clear about what we're going to do here tonight for starters. We will have public comment. Public comment, it's not an opportunity to filibuster, so it will be limited to three minutes, and hopefully you can collect your thoughts within those three minutes. Public comment is not a debate, meaning we're not here to answer questions back and forth. You can share your thoughts freely and they will be considered in this meeting. You may or may not hear an answer when we debate the issue here at the table, but it is the boundaries of the state law that we don't turn public comment into some kind of forum or debate. So I just want to be sure that everybody understands that. Um, before we begin public comment, I'm gonna read off a couple of carefully researched factual points because there's been a lot of misinformation out there about what is actual part of the governor's order, what's not, what's within our purview, what's not. You may or may not agree with what I read off, but since Thursday's announcement, we've spent a lot of time, including the city attorney trying to get down to what is correct and factual. So what I read off will be the points that we will be uh working from. Uh, there's certainly going to be strong opinions on both sides. I've heard from a lot of people who have called me directly and told me they have very passionate points on one side or the other. It is very important in this room that we are respectful in the way that we approach each other. The only way that we can allow everyone to freely speak is if we are direct and not uh we can't show big emotion, there will be no applause. If you decide that this is gonna be some kind of pep rally, you'll be asked to leave. Because we want people on the other side of the issue to also feel like they can share their opinion. You don't have to agree with it. We just have to give equal opportunity for people to share their thoughts. The decision that will be made later, we want everyone to feel like they had an opportunity to be considered. So it the respect issue is very important. Um so I'm just gonna go through a couple of things that have been some misconceptions. You may already agree with these points, but I wrote them down so that we at least begin from a common uh perspective. The first one is fireworks are currently legal, illegally sold throughout the state. That hasn't changed. Uh the purchase of fireworks has not been affected by the governor's order or the current state law, and we have a city as a city have not been given the authority to change the sale of fireworks. So that is not in our purview. Uh the discharge of public fireworks throughout or without a professional permit, would not be legal until July 2nd. So no action, and the fact that we have not yet taken an action has not affected anybody's ability to do fireworks or not. So that's not been affected because I've had some people concerned. Uh three professionally licensed fireworks are not affected by the governor's order. So those who have permits and those who have set up professional shows, that's not affected, and the city does not have the power to change that.
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