KENNEBUNK — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted 5-2 in favor of referring discussion of a possible fireworks ordinance to the town’s zoning ordinance committee.

The board discussed several potential forms of an ordinance to regulate fireworks in the town, including an outright ban, permits allowing residents to possess and set off fireworks, and firework safety and education classes through the fire department.

The board did not recommend a specific type of ordinance. Instead, it voted to take the discussion to the zoning ordinance committee, which will then send it back to selectmen once it’s studied the issue.

Fireworks were legalized in Maine in 2012, with the exception of missile-type rockets, bottle and sky rockets, and aerial spinners. But the law is subject to local ordinance, and regulations vary from municipality to municipality.

Kennebunk is one of 13 York County communities without an ordinance pertaining to the possession or use of fireworks. Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, Wells, Eliot and North Berwick all have partial bans on fireworks. Residents in those communities may possess fireworks, but they are not allowed to set them off.

Biddeford, Sanford, Ogunquit and York are the only York County municipalities that ban both possession and use of fireworks.

According to state law, people in Kennebunk may use fireworks from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. any day of the year, with the exception of July 4 and Dec. 31, when they may use fireworks until 12:30 a.m.

The proposal was brought forward by Selectman Shiloh Schulte, who said some people in the community agree with him that noise from fireworks is an issue.

“I’ve stopped making complaints, because there was nothing able to be done about it,” Schulte said.

Some selectmen said they disapproved of implementing a fireworks ordinance, saying complaints are low and there have been no injuries related to them.

“I’m not in favor of an ordinance. We’ve had so few complaints and no injuries, I think people are doing it responsibly. I am in favor of education and enforcement,” Selectman Deborah Beal said.

Firework complaints have declined in Kennebunk each year since the pyrotechnics were legalized. In 2012, the town received around 75 complaints. So far this year, it has only received about 18 complaints. No injuries related to fireworks have been reported in the town since fireworks were legalized.

“They should be only on your own property,” Beal said. “Am I in favor of putting a sign up on the beach? Yes. If it’s on town property, it’s a problem.”

Police Chief Robert MacKenzie said enforcing an ordinance would be difficult because complaints are handled as sound complaints, and fireworks often subside by the time police arrive at a location for a complaint.

“If there’s an ordinance in effect, there’s an expectation of the public that the police are going to fix it,” MacKenzie said, indicating an ordinance would put additional strain on his fleet.

MacKenzie also said there doesn’t seem to be a true issue with fireworks in Kennebunk, given the low number of complaints and lack of reported injuries.

Other board members said they think people in the town have been conditioned to not complain about fireworks when they present a nuisance because they know nothing is usually done about them.

“I agree that passing ordinances and laws that are unenforceable or nearly unenforceable seem like a just a waste of paper and bureaucratic time … (however) an ordinance, though it may not be enforceable, it may set some parameters that may confine some of the abuses,” said Selectman Richard Morin, citing highway speed limits as self-regulating ordinances. “The potential exists, you might turn the corner at the right time.”

A motion to move the discussion to the ordinance committee passed 5-2, with Selectmen Beal and Christopher Cluff opposing.

Cluff expressed his desire for an “all-or-nothing” approach, either banning fireworks outright or not adopting an ordinance at all.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].