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NORWAY — Selectmen on Thursday are set to address residents’ requests to ban fireworks. 

Town Manager David Holt said selectmen could consider a variety of options in handling the issue, which was prompted by a letter to the town several weeks ago and signed by more than 45 townspeople describing fireworks as a nuisance.

Holt said the letter was not a petition, which would carry legal implications and would force a special town meeting. The more informal letter gives selectmen latitude to consider options. 

The sale of consumer fireworks in Maine was legalized in 2012, and many towns and cities responded by passing local ordinances controlling their use or banning fireworks outright.
 
Norway, like neighbors Paris and Oxford, has no local law setting the parameters for how fireworks are to be used.
 
Legalization was viewed by advocates as a means to increase business in the state. Since passage of the law, fireworks vendors in West Paris and Paris have set up shop.

In the letter to selectmen, organizer Nancy Hohmann argued that unrestricted use of fireworks has become a nuisance to her quiet, rural life.

Selectmen can:
 
* Not act on the letter;
 
* Vote to hold a special town meeting to vote on an ordinance;
 
* Ask voters to ban fireworks outright at a special town meeting;
 
* Put the issue on the November ballot.
 
The board will discuss the issue at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, at the Town Office.

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