Bylaw No. 1439-2005
Fireworks Bylaw, 2005
Consolidated and printed by authority of the Corporate Officer under section 139 of the Community Charter. Includes amendment bylaws 2084-2011 2564-2016 and 3063-2020 . Last amended August 31, 2020
The Council of the City of Abbotsford, in open meeting assembled, ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:
Part 2 — Definitions and Interpretation
Interpretation
2.2 Unless otherwise defined, all words and phrases in this bylaw shall be construed in accordance with the meaning assigned to them by the current British Columbia Building Code (the "Building Code"), the Fire Services Act or the British Columbia Fire Code (the "Fire Code"), as the context and circumstances may require.
Selling, giving or trading fireworks
3.1 No person, except a Wholesaler, may offer for sale, sell, give or trade Fireworks within the boundaries of the City.
Possession of fireworks
3.2 No person may possess Fireworks within the boundaries of the City unless that person holds a current Permit issued under this bylaw or is a Wholesaler.
Fire or discharge of fireworks
3.3 No person may fire or discharge Fireworks within the boundaries of the City unless authorized by a Permit issued under this bylaw.
Fireworks supervisor certificate
3.4 Every applicant for a Permit to discharge Fireworks shall provide the Fire Chief with proof of a valid Fireworks Supervisor's Certificate.
Fireworks permits
4.1 (a) Every application for a Permit issued pursuant to this bylaw shall be made to the Fire Chief at least 14 days before the date of the event, in a form prescribed by the Fire Chief, and the Fire Chief is authorized and empowered to grant or refuse any such Permit, subject to the provisions of this bylaw and the Canada Explosives Act and its regulations.
(b) Every person making application for a Permit shall:
(i) deposit security with the City in the form of a cash deposit, irrevocable letter of credit or other form of security acceptable to the City, in the amount of $1,000.00, to be used for the purposes of paying any costs and expenses incurred or suffered by the City, including but not limited to costs arising or resulting from damage to City property or enforcement costs, caused by or arising from the applicant's failure to comply with the requirements of this bylaw and all other applicable statutes, provided that, any amount of security not required for the foregoing purposes shall be returned to the applicant;
(ii) pay the Permit fee prescribed in Schedule "B", except that the fee may be waived by the Fire Chief for any of the following:
- events sponsored by the City;
- events held by Abbotsford School District No. 34;
- the Abbotsford Airshow held at the Abbotsford Airport;
- events held by not for profit community or rate payer associations incorporated under the Society Act of British Columbia and operating within the City;
(iii) obtain and maintain public liability insurance in the name of the applicant and the City and include proof of such insurance coverage along with the application. Such insurance shall be with one or more insurance companies registered to do business in the Province of British Columbia and in a form acceptable to the City, and shall provide coverage on an "occurrence basis", in an amount not less than two million ($2,000,000.00) dollars;
(iv) provide proof of a valid Fireworks Supervisor's Certificate in accordance with the requirement in Section 3.4;
(v) provide a site plan and details of the location, duration and safety measures in place for the event; and
(vi) accompany Fire Rescue Service staff on an initial site inspection and any required site re-inspections and pay the applicable inspection and re-inspection fees prescribed in Schedule "B" of this bylaw.
Permit suspension or revocation
4.2 The Fire Chief is authorized and empowered to suspend or revoke any Permit issued under this bylaw, where it is determined that the holder of the permit contravened or authorized, permitted or suffered the contravention of, any provision of this bylaw, the Fire Services Act and its regulations, or any other applicable statute or the conditions or restrictions attached to the Permit.
Incident cost recovery
4.3 Every person that causes an Incident directly attributable to the person's misuse of Fireworks including but not limited to, the person's failure to comply with the provisions of this bylaw, a Permit or other applicable statute or regulation, shall be deemed to have caused a nuisance and, in addition to any other penalty imposed by bylaw, shall be responsible for the costs incurred by the Fire Rescue Service in abating that nuisance by responding to the Incident and, for that purpose, shall pay an extraordinary service fee calculated in accordance with the Incident Cost Recovery Fees prescribed in Schedule "D" of the City's Fees and Charges Bylaw, 2006, Bylaw No. 1532-2006, as amended or replaced from time-to-time.
B/L 2084-2011
4.5 (a) Without limiting Section 4.4, every person that possesses or discharges Fireworks contrary to the provisions of this Bylaw commits an offence and shall, when directed to do so, surrender all Fireworks in their immediate possession to a Bylaw Enforcement Officer that shall be authorized to seize and hold all such Fireworks in the interest of public safety and as evidence of the commission of the offence.
(b) A person that contravenes subsection (a) by failing to surrender Fireworks upon demand commits an offence.
(c) Where a Bylaw Enforcement Officer is required to seize and hold Fireworks from a person under subsection (a), that person shall pay the costs incurred by the City for that purpose, calculated in accordance with Incident Cost Recovery Fees prescribed in Schedule "D" of the City's Fees and Charges Bylaw, 2006, Bylaw No. 1532-2006, as amended or replaced from time-to-time.
Definitions
In this bylaw, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Bylaw Enforcement Officer" means a constable designated as such under the provisions of the Police Act, a person who has a constable's powers, a member of the Fire Rescue Service and those persons designated Bylaw Enforcement Officers in the City's Municipal Ticket Information Bylaw, 2007 to enforce the provisions of this Bylaw;
"City" means the City of Abbotsford;
"Fire Chief" means the person appointed by Council as the Fire Chief or his designate;
"Fire Rescue Service" means the regularly constituted Fire Rescue Service of the City of Abbotsford;
"Fireworks" means cannon crackers, fireballs, firecrackers, mines, Roman Candles, sky rockets, squibs, torpedoes, and any other explosive designated as a firework by regulation made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council;
"Fireworks Supervisor" means a person possessing a valid Fireworks Supervisor Certificate issued by the Explosive Branch of Natural Resources Canada;
"Incident" means a fire, an explosion, a situation where a fire or explosion has occurred or is imminent or any other situation presenting a danger or possible danger to life or property and to which the Fire Rescue Service has responded;
"Owner" shall have the meaning assigned to it under the Community Charter of British Columbia and includes the authorized agent of the Owner;
"Permit" means a permit to discharge Fireworks issued by the Fire Chief;
"Wholesaler" means any person, business or commercial undertaking engaged in the bulk sales of Fireworks, under a business licence issued by the City, to:
● Permit holders; or
● retailers outside the boundaries of the City, and
includes all officials, employees and shipping contractors of the Wholesaler, and, for greater certainty, does not include the retail sale of Fireworks to the general public.
Fee Schedule
|
Fireworks Permit |
$50.00 per event |
|
Initial Site Inspection |
$100.00 per inspection |
|
Site Re- Inspection |
$100.00 per inspection |