Judge rules Iowa cities can restrict fireworks sales

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Iowa cities can legally restrict where fireworks are sold, but they cannot require companies to apply for special permits or restrict sales from temporary structures. 

The ruling allows Des Moines and other cities to continue limiting fireworks sales to industrial areas away from retail centers and homes. 

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger issued rulings in two lawsuits brought by out-of-state fireworks companies against five central Iowa cities.

American Promotional Events Inc. filed an injunction request June 13 seeking to stop Des Moines from enforcing its rule limiting fireworks sales to industrial areas. It argued the city was flouting state law by placing restrictions on fireworks sales that went beyond state regulations.

Goodgame Ebinger denied that request with Thursday's ruling. 

"Although American (Promotional Events Inc.) faces some irreparable harm, American is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its underlying claims and the balance of harms and the public interest factors are neutral," she wrote in her opinion.

Attorneys for the fireworks company argued during a June 23 hearing that Des Moines was "singling out a product and attempting to zone that product out of sales." An individual city's concerns about the safety of fireworks do not justify the ordinance because those concerns were already taken into account when legislators made the decision to legalize products like bottle rockets and Roman candles, attorney Sarah Crane argued.

Attorney John Haraldson, representing Des Moines, argued that Iowa law requires only that cities make "some effort" to allow fireworks sales. It still gives local officials the power to regulate locations, he said. 

Des Moines city attorney Jeff Lester said Thursday that the city was pleased but not surprised at the judge's ruling. 

"Certainly from my staff and the City Council, there was absolutely no intent to thumb our nose at the Legislature. But as the judge ruled in her order, there was no express or implied preemption of the city's zoning authority (by this law)," he said. 

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Timothy Coonan, an attorney representing American Promotional Events, said the company was disappointed with the judge's ruling.

The Alabama-based company planned to sell fireworks at four big-box stores in Des Moines, in addition to sales through partnerships with nonprofits like the Salvation Army that supply volunteers and, in turn, get a share of the profits.

Coonan said earlier this month that American Promotional Events had around 500 contracts to sell fireworks at Iowa businesses. But it had been able to implement only "a fraction of those" because of local officials' differing responses to the new state law.

“We are hoping to be able to sell our products where we can,” Coonan said Thursday. 

He said the company is hopeful Des Moines will re-examine its ordinance before fireworks sales become legal again in December.

The new state law signed by then-Gov. Terry Branstad in May ended a decades-old ban on most fireworks. It allows Iowa residents to buy and shoot off fireworks from June 1 through July 8 and again from Dec. 10 through Jan. 3.

In a second ruling, Goodgame Ebinger partially sided with Bellino Fireworks in its complaints against fireworks ordinances in Ankeny, Boone, Johnston and Pleasant Hill. 

Attorneys for the Nebraska company argued in a June 23 hearing that three of the cities were costing Bellino money and time by requiring special-use permits. The company was already licensed by the state fire marshal as the new state law requires.

Additionally, the complaint challenged Boone and Pleasant Hill restrictions on selling fireworks from temporary structures, such as tents. Emergency rules written by the state fire marshal specifically allow such sales and should preempt local laws that try to block sales from tents, the company argued.

Goodgame Ebinger granted a partial injunction, stopping Ankeny, Johnston and Pleasant Hill from requiring special permits, and rejecting Boone and Pleasant Hill requirements on permanent structures. Her ruling also shot down Pleasant Hill's requirement that fireworks sellers carry additional insurance coverage. 

However, the judge denied Bellino's request for an injunction against the parts of Ankeny's and Pleasant Hill's ordinances that restrict fireworks sales to industrial areas. 

“Although Bellino has established some irreparable harm, Bellino has not shown it is likely to succeed on the merits of those claims,” the judge wrote.

The ruling was a disappointment for state Sen. Jake Chapman. The Adel Republican managed the fireworks legislation on the Senate floor. 

"I do believe it's contrary to what we passed in the law. It appears we're going to have to provide further clarification next session," he said.