Council introduces ordinance to create administrative penalties for illegal fireworks

City staff presented an ordinance to establish administrative penalties for illegal fireworks and social-host liability, which the council introduced and approved for further consideration.

The proposal would add chapter 8.15 to the Carlsbad Municipal Code and create cumulative administrative penalties of up to $1,000 per violation with a $10,000 daily cap. Presenters said the enforcement strategy prioritizes education and voluntary compliance followed by high-visibility enforcement during peak periods. The ordinance would allow administrative citations and seizure authority where permitted by law and would include an appeal process to ensure due process for recipients of citations.

Council members asked about potential allocation of collected fines; a staff response noted that state law requires a portion (65 percent) of some fire-related fines to be remitted to the State Fire Marshal and that administrative citation revenue generally goes to the general fund unless the ordinance explicitly designates an alternate allocation. Council members also suggested directing communications and outreach to multilingual communities and exploring alternative events such as drone light shows to reduce fireworks impacts.

Council voted to introduce the ordinance and directed staff to return with the ordinance language and fiscal details; the motion passed unanimously.