The Smithville Aldermen voted 4-0 with Josh Miller absent Monday night to adopt an ordinance authorizing the sale of fireworks in the city limits on second and final reading. The measure dictates that vendors may apply for a 12-month permit, good from June 1 to May 31, for $500. Sales, however, will only be permitted from June 20 to July 9 and from December 21 to January 5.

Applicants must comply with state laws, as well as the rules put forth in the city ordinance.

Smithville resident Lou White spoke before the city council on the matter, opposing the measure because of safety concerns, saying that if a stand caught fire in a residential area the results could be disastrous.

“I feel that it’s too dangerous to have a fireworks stand on a commercial lot near a residential neighborhood with so many people living so close together,” White, a Fourth of July fireworks vendor on property outside the city, said. “It could blow up. Walmart will be the number one seller in the city. They will have it inside their building, and if I’m not mistaken they had a fire there a few months ago.”

Businesses like Walmart could sell fireworks under the ordinance, but a regulation prohibiting structures where fireworks are sold from exceeding 3,200 square feet would mean that they would have to set up a tent outside the business.

Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker said that the only concern he had was with storage, but if the ordinance is followed it should not be a problem.

“The only issue I have is with the storage of the fireworks, but I think the ordinance covers that. If they are stored inside a building there has to be sprinklers. I recommend that they be stored outside the building in a separate metal storage container so we know exactly where they are. They should not be kept inside the building where it could be a surprise (if a fire broke out),” Parker said.