Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 5.B
Meeting Date: May 13, 2026
From: Anne Ambrose, Assistant City Manager
Title: First Reading of an Ordinance to Add Chapter 11.21 to Title 11 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code to Prohibit and Regulate Fireworks within the City
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Introduce and waive further reading of Ordinance No. ___, an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cathedral City, California, adding Chapter 11.21 to Title 11 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code to prohibit and regulate fireworks within the City; and
2. Find that adoption of Ordinance No. __ is not a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15060(c)(3) and, alternatively, is exempt from CEQA pursuant to the common sense exemption set forth in CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3).
BACKGROUND:
Fireworks present significant public health, safety, and welfare concerns due to the risk of fire, explosion, burns, bodily injury, property damage, noise disturbance, and diversion of police, fire, code compliance, and emergency response resources.
The City previously maintained fireworks regulations in Chapter 5.80 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code, titled “Sale and Discharge of Safe and Sane Fireworks.” Chapter 5.80 included provisions related to administrative citations, administrative fines, enforcement authority, and responsibility for violations occurring on private property. In 2018, Ordinance No. 809 amended Chapter 5.80 to strengthen enforcement procedures, authorize administrative fines of up to $1,000 per violation, and allow citations to be issued to persons responsible for the violation as well as persons who owned, leased, or were otherwise in lawful possession of the property where the violation occurred.
On March 25, 2020, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 835, which repealed Chapter
5.80 and readopted it as “Reserved,” thereby eliminating the prior stand-alone fireworks chapter from Title 5 of the Municipal Code.
The City currently regulates fireworks through Section 8.12.060 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code, which adopts local amendments to the California Fire Code. Fire Code Section 5614 prohibits the manufacture, sale, possession, storage, handling, and use of both “safe and sane” fireworks and “dangerous fireworks” within the City, except for permitted fireworks displays. Section 5614 also authorizes the seizure and removal of prohibited fireworks by the Fire Chief, peace officers, and other City officials authorized to enforce the Municipal Code.
Although the current Fire Code provisions prohibit fireworks and authorize seizure, the Municipal Code no longer contains a dedicated fireworks chapter that clearly addresses responsible-person liability, administrative fines, nuisance abatement, cost recovery, and supplemental civil, administrative, and criminal remedies. The proposed ordinance would add Chapter 11.21 to Title 11 of the Municipal Code to restore and modernize those enforcement tools and provide a clearer framework for addressing fireworks violations within the City.
DISCUSSION:
The proposed ordinance would add Chapter 11.21 to Title 11 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code to supplement the City’s existing Fire Code provisions related to fireworks. The ordinance does not create a new authorization for fireworks; rather, it strengthens the City’s ability to enforce the existing prohibition and respond to fireworks-related violations in a more effective manner.
The proposed chapter would prohibit the display, possession, discharge, sale, and offering for sale of fireworks within the City, except as otherwise authorized by law or permitted fireworks displays. It would also establish definitions, enforcement authority, responsible- person liability, administrative fines, nuisance abatement remedies, seizure and disposal authority, and cost recovery provisions.
A key component of the ordinance is the responsible-person liability provision. Fireworks violations frequently occur on private property, at gatherings, or in circumstances where the individual who personally discharged the fireworks may be difficult to identify. The ordinance would allow enforcement against persons who cause, permit, aid, abet, or allow fireworks violations, including property owners, tenants, occupants, persons in control of the property, and event organizers where appropriate.
The ordinance would also declare fireworks violations to be a public nuisance and authorize the City to pursue available administrative, civil, and criminal remedies. These tools are intended to improve deterrence, support enforcement consistency, and provide the City with a clearer mechanism to recover enforcement, abatement, seizure, storage, transportation, and disposal costs associated with fireworks violations.
The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 892, consolidating the administrative fine schedules within the Municipal Code into a single section in Chapter 13.58 authorizing the imposition of a fine as set in the Municipal Code or such amount that the City Council may establish by resolution. Following the adoption of Ordinance No. 892, the City Council adopted a resolution establishing fines greater than the default fines for certain public nuisance violations of the CCMC. A draft resolution to add a fine of $1,000 for violations of Chapter 11.21 is attached, with the final resolution to be brought forward with the second reading of the Ordinance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Adoption of Ordinance No. ___ is not expected to result in a direct fiscal impact to the City.
The ordinance establishes administrative fine, nuisance abatement, and cost recovery provisions that may allow the City to recover certain costs associated with fireworks-related enforcement, seizure, storage, transportation, disposal, and abatement activities.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal E- Safety: support continued Police, Fire, and Code Compliance engagement with the community
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Ordinance No.__ Fireworks Regulations
2. Draft Resolution Amending the Schedule of Fines