Parker planning commission weighs fireworks safety standards, asks staff to draft consolidated ordinance

Parker — The Planning and Zoning Commission on May 14 reviewed a city council referral of Ordinance 201 addressing fireworks and agreed to draft consolidated rules intended to clarify separation distances, permitting and enforcement for both professional displays and smaller community events.

Chair (speaker 1) framed the question around whether the city should adopt a simple fixed-radius requirement or follow industry guidance, citing the National Fire Protection Association: “there’s a .. 70 feet per inch of shell size rule … so if you have a 3 inch shell size, that’s a 210 foot radius.” Commissioners discussed that a 12‑inch shell would require roughly 840 feet under that metric, and contrasted that technical approach with a proposal to set a 300‑foot standard that would cover most “low profile” shows.

Agency staff who regularly review permits (speaker 6) said the town’s typical displays are low‑profile and that the known launch sites—such as those used for events at South Fork Ranch—would meet a 300‑foot separation; staff also emphasized that any launch must still meet fire‑department review and local permitting requirements. “I review it. I sign it for approval a 100% of the time,” the official said about the permit process.

City staff cautioned that enforcement of a broad personal‑use ban can be difficult. “Enforcement is very tricky,” a staff member (speaker 2) said, describing how firework complaints arrive across many locations over a short time span and officers are often unable to catch incidents in progress.

Commission discussion covered: limiting fireworks inside Parker to permitted special events rather than allowing personal fireworks within city limits; requiring a special‑use permit and fire‑chief approval for each public display; and consolidating older ordinances (Ordinance 201 and Ordinance 244, codified in chapter 93) into a single, clearer rulebook. Commissioners asked for a drafting approach that starts with desired rules and then determines where in the code to place them.

On fire pits, commissioners reviewed a draft that would allow carefully specified home fire pits without a permit (examples discussed included a roughly 3‑foot diameter pit with limitations on materials burned and adherence to county burn bans). That draft would exempt compliant small pits from a permit but require field inspection if complaints arrive.

Next steps: commissioners agreed to form a small group of members and staff to prepare proposed ordinance text and to reconvene in approximately two weeks with the goal of having consolidated language by mid‑June so it can be considered before peak summer activity begins. No final ordinance change was adopted at the meeting.

In routine business the commission approved the April 9, 2026 meeting minutes during the opening portion of the meeting.