SOLEDAD — At last week’s Soledad City Council meeting, the council authorized the issuing of three Fireworks Sales Permits and the approval of three applications to sell. The City of Soledad allows for up to five permits per year.
To apply for the permit, the group must be a civic group or a non-profit organization and have all the required materials that are needed for issuance of a permit, including insurance, license from the State Fire Marshal, retail license and a booth of the required detentions and specifically made with two exits to sell from.
The timeline for submitting application was between March 15 and April 15, and with the paperwork they have to have their certificates from the State Marshal, proof of $1 million in insurance and permission to have a stand at the address they put on the application.
Two groups had their applications in on time, both deciding to use the same location they used last year: Soledad’s Liberty Chapel, which placed a booth at 900 Front St., and the Soledad Lion’s Club, whose booth was at 179 East St.
There was one other permit application submitted but it came in on April 20. Victory Outreach submitted a complete application but they were late by five days.
The council had the right to block their application and stick with just the two applications, but through discussion and considering the work that Victory Outreach provides for the community and its residents, they decided to allow the permit to go through with the others.
The council did talk to Pastor Henry about the deadline. Last year Victory Outreach had its fireworks booth in the Carl’s Jr. parking lot on Front Street.
In the City of Soledad, only “Safe and Sane” fireworks are legal to be displayed. Sales of the Safe and Sane fireworks will start June 28, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and end July 4, when the stand can run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Anyone caught using illegal fireworks and users who are under age are looking at hefty fines when caught.
Another aspect of the permitting structure is the $10 fee. The price has not been raised in many years. Cities like King City charge a $182 fee per permit to cover cost of city personnel to review and process the paperwork and site inspections.
These are the same processes that are done in the City of Soledad, but the city is not compensated for the work with current fee.
By next year, the city will be reviewing all of its permitting fees, and the City Manager believes the time/cost aspect should be more in line with what it actually costs the city to process the permits.
