County adds limits on fireworks
Staff writer
After haphazard discharges of Fourth of July fireworks last year at Marion County Lake, county commissioners decided Monday to prohibit fireworks in the tightly packed mobile home and camping areas at the southwest corner of the lake.
Other county rules remain the same as last year: Fireworks will be allowed to be discharged outside city limits, on private property only, and inside Lakeshore Dr., except in the mobile home area, at Marion County Lake.
As always, fireworks will be prohibited at Marion Reservoir, on all public roadways, and in all residential areas around the county lake.
This year, the prohibitions extend to an area bounded by Lakeshore Dr., Turkey Creek Rd., Pine Tree Dr., and Office Dr., as well as at shoreline campsites with utility hookups east on Lakeshore Dr.
“These three areas are where I’ve had the most complaints, where campers are jammed together only five feet apart,” lake superintendent Isaac Hett said in his recommended prohibitions.
The prohibition does not include primitive camping area.
This year’s county fireworks schedule allows for fireworks to be sold in unincorporated areas of the county and discharged from 8 a.m. to midnight everyday but Sundays between June 27 and July 5. On Sundays June 28 and July 5, sales and discharge will be allowed noon to 10 p.m.