Galaxy Fireworks sues Pasco over ban

The company says the ban prevents its right to operate a legal business. It plans to seek monetary damages even if the ban is lifted.

By ALISA ULFERTS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 17, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Pasco County commissioners agreed Friday to keep their fireworks ban in place another 72 hours and promptly were sued by a fireworks company.

Galaxy Fireworks sued Pasco after Friday's special meeting, accusing the county of depriving the company of its right to operate a legal business. If Pasco does not lift its ban at the next special meeting scheduled for Monday, Galaxy attorney Terrence Lenick said, the company will seek an emergency hearing.

"There is no factual basis for the ban on the sales (of fireworks)," Lenick said.

But even if Pasco does lift the ban on Monday, Lenick said he plans to file an amended complaint that seeks monetary damages to compensate for the time that Pasco outlawed sales.

County Attorney Robert Sumner, who had warned commissioners about the liability of a ban on fireworks sales, said the complaint was premature.

"Except for the injunctive part, it should not be considered until the ban is lifted, and then give us an opportunity to look at the whole situation," Sumner said.

Lenick added that his clients wanted to file the lawsuit earlier this month when commissioners passed the ban. The company has two fixed stores in Pasco, but sells fireworks out of tents across the Tampa Bay area during the Fourth of July season. Lenick said Galaxy decided to wait until after the county heard from its expert witness, Peter Ray, chairman of the Meteorology Department at Florida State University.

Ray, who said he was not being paid for his time, told commissioners that the state Division of Forestry index that shows dry conditions was never intended to be used to predict the chances of a fire starting from fireworks or any other source. Rather, Ray said, the index was developed to show the intensity of a forest fire, which is helpful when the state wants to do a controlled burn.

"It's a complete misnomer to call it a drought index," Ray said. He added that fewer than 200 fires have been caused by fireworks since 1987, and that the leading causes of brush fires were lightning and arson.

Still, county commissioners said they want to see more rain before they follow Hillsborough County's lead and lift the ban. Hillsborough commissioners said Friday enough rain had fallen to relax their ban both on the sale and personal use of fireworks.

Pasco commissioners did not agree. Commissioner Steve Simon said, "I'm inclined to think a couple of days of rain is a real good idea before we turn loose all those . . . (fireworks) on a still very dry county."

In Pinellas County, Fireworks City sued Sheriff Everett Rice on Friday, claiming the county did not have authority to ban the sale of fireworks when the state already had issued the company a license.

The 10-year-old Clearwater company bought $250,000 worth of merchandise in anticipation of the July Fourth holiday but will not be able to recoup the costs if the ban continues, according to the lawsuit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

Deputy Cal Dennie, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office, said Friday he had not heard about the lawsuit. But he questioned why the company sued the sheriff when the County Commission passed the ordinance banning fireworks.

-- Staff writer Anita Kumar contributed to this report.

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