Lakewood Municipal Code Ch. 1 Fire Prevention

[Added by Ord. 445]

The City Council finds and declares that a Fire Prevention Code for the City of Lakewood is necessary to preserve the public health, safety and welfare of the City. This Chapter shall be known as the Fire Prevention Code of the City of Lakewood.

[Added by Ord. 348; amended by Ord. 511; Ord. 75-4; Ord. 78-7; Ord. 86-11; Ord. 98-7; Ord. 2004-10; Ord. 2007-10; Ord. 2011-2; Ord. 2014-10; Ord. 2017-2]

Except as hereinafter provided, that certain fire code known and designated as the Los Angeles County Fire Code is the fire code of the City of Lakewood, adopted by reference. The intent of the code is to prescribe regulations consistent with nationally recognized good practice for the safeguarding, to a reasonable degree, of life and property in Lakewood from the hazards of fire and explosion arising from the storage, handling and use of hazardous substance, materials and devices, and from conditions hazardous to life or property in the use or occupancy of buildings or premises in Lakewood. As used in this chapter, the Los Angeles County Fire Code refers to the current fire code adopted by the County of Los Angeles and any amendments to such code subsequently adopted by the County of Los Angeles. In the event of any conflict between provisions of the Los Angeles County Fire Code, Title 32 of the Los Angeles County Code, or the Lakewood Municipal Code, the provision contained in the Lakewood Municipal Code shall control. One copy of the Los Angeles County Fire Code, as amended, has been deposited in the office of the city clerk of the City of Lakewood, and shall be at all times maintained by the clerk for use and examination by the public.”

[Added by Ord. 348; amended by Ord. 511; Ord. 75-4]

Whenever any of the following names or terms are used in the Fire Code adopted by reference herein, such names or terms shall be deemed and construed to have the meaning ascribed to it in this section, as follows:

BUILDING CODE

Means the Building Code of the City of Lakewood.

BUILDING OFFICIAL

Means the Chief Building Official of the City of Lakewood.

BUREAU OF FIRE PREVENTIONS

Means the Fire Prevention Bureau of the Office of Forester and Fire Warden of the County of Los Angeles.

CHIEF ENGINEER

Means the Forester and Fire Warden of the County of Los Angeles, who is hereby appointed Fire Chief of this City.

ELECTRICAL CODE

Shall mean the Electrical Code of the City of Lakewood.

FIRE CHIEF

Means the Fire Chief of the City of Lakewood.

JURISDICTIONAL AREA

Means the incorporated territory of the City of Lakewood included within the Los Angeles County Fire Protection District.

LOCAL ZONING ORDINANCE

Shall mean the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Lakewood.

MUNICIPALITY

Means the City of Lakewood.

[Added by Ord. 348; amended by Ord. 511; Ord. 778-7; Ord. 86-11]

Any reference to any county ordinance or amendment thereto in the Fire Code, incorporated herein by reference, shall mean any City ordinance or other provision of the Lakewood Municipal Code on the same subject as the County as the County ordinance or amendment referred to in the Fire Code, and the Municipal Code or City ordinance shall control. If there is no City ordinance or Lakewood Municipal Code section on said subject, no County ordinance shall be incorporated herein, other than the Fire Code of Los Angeles County, aforementioned.

[Amended by Ord. 151]

All provisions of this Chapter shall be carried out and enforced, in conjunction with the law enforcement agency of the City of Lakewood by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Fire Protection Districts of said City. The general supervision of condition of equipment which aids in control of fire, conditions constituting fire hazards or danger to life or property, and the abatement or minimizing of such fire hazards or dangerous conditions shall be the responsibility of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Fire Protection Districts of said City.

[Amended by Ord. 151]

It is the intention of the City Council of the City of Lakewood to hereby establish regulations or standards which will establish reasonable fire safety standards, and to provide for the control of fire conditions constituting fire hazards or dangers to life or property, and the abatement of such fire hazards or dangerous conditions throughout the entire City. It is hereby declared and established that compliance with the Fire Prevention Code of the County of Los Angeles, Ordinance No. 2947 and amendments thereto, is prima facie evidence of reasonable methods to be used, procedures to be followed, laws, rules and regulations to be enforced in respect to control of fire, conditions constituting fire hazards or dangers to life or property, and the abatement of such fire hazards or dangerous conditions throughout the entire City.

The fire prevention standards and rules, regulations and laws providing fire safety standards are hereby declared to be those ordinances, chapters, sections and parts now a part of the Fire Prevention Code of the County of Los Angeles, Ordinance No. 2947 and amendments thereto, or hereafter added to said Code by amendments or otherwise, where not in conflict with any City Ordinance on the same subject, and said Fire Prevention Code and all amendments thereto now in existence or hereafter adopted is hereby adopted by reference and made a part hereof and incorporated herein as though set forth in full herein.

This Section shall govern the sale, offer for sale, possession of, the use, discharge of, firing or possession of fireworks and it shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, have in his possession, fire, set off, discharge or use, or cause or permit to be sold, offered for sale, have in his possession, fire, set off, discharge or use any fireworks unless classified as "safe and sane" by the State Fire Marshal and unless in addition all terms and provisions of the State Fireworks Law contained in Part 2 of Division 11 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California are complied with. Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the public display of fireworks as authorized by Section 3106 of this Code subject to the terms and provisions of the State Fireworks Law.

A. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Code or the Fire Prevention Code to the contrary, "safe and sane fireworks," as hereinbefore defined, may be sold within the City of Lakewood between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on July 1st, July 2nd, July 3rd and July 4th of each year provided a permit has been obtained to do so and the terms and provisions of this Chapter and the Lakewood Municipal Code are complied with at all times.

[Added by Ord. 445; amended by Ord. 2002-2]

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to fire, set off, discharge or use, or cause or permit to fire, set off, discharge or use any fireworks except for “safe and sane” fireworks during the period between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on July 4th.

[Added by Ord. 2002-2]

C. It shall be unlawful for any person to have in his or her possession any fireworks except from 8:00 a.m. on July 1st through 11:00 p.m. on July 4th. The provisions of this subsection are not applicable to public agencies or manufacturers or suppliers of fireworks for public display or storage. Organizations to which permits have been issued may accept delivery of fireworks for stocking purposes no more than 24 hours prior to the time allotted for fireworks sales.

[Added by Ord. 2002-2]

D. Any resident, occupant or person in control of premises on which illegal fireworks are found or from which fireworks are illegally discharged shall be subject to the same civil liability or criminal penalty that may be imposed pursuant to City regulations on the person selling, discharging, using or possessing such fireworks, as applicable, provided that the person selling, discharging, using or possessing such fireworks is on such premises by invitation of or with the consent of such resident, occupant or person in control of such premises.

[Added by Ord. 2008-1]

[Added by Ord. 445]

All applications for permits required under Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 11 of the Health and Safety Code (State Fireworks Law) shall be made to and upon the form provided by the Director of Finance of the City of Lakewood. The Director of Finance shall refer all such applications to the Fire Department for a report.

[Amended by Ord. 445; Ord. 2002-2]

All applications for permit to sell at retail "safe and sane fireworks" shall comply with and be governed by the provisions of the State Fireworks Law and, in addition, shall be governed by the following:

A. Each application shall be made prior to the first day of April in each year.

B. Each application shall be accompanied by the requisite City business license fee.

C. Each application shall be accompanied by an application processing fee of $100.00 which shall not be refundable.

D. Each application shall set forth the proposed location of the fireworks stand.

E. Each application shall set forth the total amount of any compensation required to be paid to a property owner or manager for the cost of renting a location of the fireworks stand for the current year, commencing March 31, 2003. Along with the application, a copy of the agreement with the landowner or fireworks supplier shall be furnished.

F. Each application shall specify the principal and permanent meeting place of the applicant organization, the address of the meeting place and the day and time of the meeting.

G. Each application shall set forth in detail acceptable to the Director of Finance the intended charitable use of the proceeds from the sale of fireworks.

H. Each application shall be accompanied by a complete list of the organization’s members’ names, addresses, and telephone numbers as of March 31st of the current year.

I. Each applicant shall agree that if a permit is issued to the applicant, the applicant will at the time of issuance of permit deliver to the City public liability insurance and products liability insurance, bonds or riders, designating the City as an additional insured, in the minimum amount of $1,000,000.00 per person, $1,000,000.00 per accident, and $1,000,000.00 property damage.

J. Each application shall be accompanied by a $150.00 cash bond to guarantee faithful performance of the terms and provisions of this ordinance.

K. Each application shall contain such other information as deemed appropriate by the Director of Finance.

L. Each application shall bear the signature of an authorized representative of the applicant attesting under penalty of perjury that the information contained in the application is true and correct.

The following qualifications must be met in addition to the other requirements herein set forth or set forth in the State Fireworks Law, before a permit may be issued:

A. Upon receipt of the report of the Fire Department, the City Council may issue permits to those persons or organizations determined by it to be responsible and organized and existing as nonprofit or tax exempt associations as recognized by the State of California or the Internal Revenue Code, primarily for patriotic, veteran, civic betterment, religious, welfare, youth or charitable purposes. Such permit shall be issued or denied in the discretion of the City Council and subject to such other reasonable conditions as the City Council determines necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare. The City Council does hereby declare its intention to issue only a limited number of permits in order to prevent an unsightly or undue or unsafe concentration of fireworks stands. No permit shall be issued to other than adult persons.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

B. Each such organization must have its principal and permanent meeting place in the City and 50% of its members must either reside in the City, or be employed in the City, or be owners or operators of a business or other establishment located in the City and it must have been organized and established in the City for a minimum of one year continually preceding the filing of the application for the permit. In addition, such organization must have a bona fide membership of at least twenty members.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

C. There shall be not more than one stand per permittee. Only one permit shall be issued for any parent, principal, or master group or organization unless the City Council finds in a given case, because of the circumstances of the stand location or other factors, the intent of this Ordinance will not be defeated by issuing more than one permit. The intent of this requirement is to limit applicants, who otherwise qualify, to one permit as to each such parent or principal group or organization and to eliminate any one principal or parent group or association from having permits issued to associate, derivative, ancillary, subsidiary or support groups or entities. Nothing in this section shall prohibit more than one group or organization meeting all qualifications specified in this chapter from jointly applying for a fireworks permit. In such case, however, only a single permit will be issued. Those organizations having obtained a permit in the year 2001, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, B and C, may, in the discretion of the City Council, be issued a permit until such time that said organization does not receive a permit in a given year, provided that the organization is qualified and is in substantial compliance under all other sections of this chapter to hold a permit for a fireworks stand.

[Added by Ord. 445; amended by Ord. 2002-2]

D. The maximum number of permits that may be issued pursuant to this chapter is 25. Applications for permits shall be heard and considered by the City Council. In any year, in the event that the number of applications from “grandfathered” organizations as described in C, above, is fewer than 25, the City may, in its discretion, issue permits to non-grandfathered organizations up to a maximum total of 25 permits. The selection of which non-grandfathered organizations receive such permits shall be determined by a witnessed drawing, according to procedures established by the City’s Director of Administrative Services. All non-grandfathered organizations issued permits pursuant to such process shall have grandfathered status in subsequent years.”

[Added by Ord. 2002-2; amended by Ord. 2019-1]

A. Every fireworks stand shall be staffed only by members of the permittee organization(s), members of their immediate families, or volunteers and no person below the age of majority shall at any time be or be permitted inside of said stand or to assist in the handling or sale of fireworks.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

B. No person shall be paid any consideration for selling or otherwise participating in the sale of fireworks at such stand.

[Added by Ord. 445]

C. Every organization shall be responsible to make certain that every person selling fireworks from that organization’s stand shall distribute with each sale a flier from the City containing information on laws and corresponding penalties concerning fireworks. It will be the responsibility of every organization to obtain a sufficient number of fliers from the City.

[Added by Ord. 2002-2]

[Added by Ord. 445; Ord. 470]

All retail sales of "safe and sane fireworks" shall be permitted only from within a temporary fireworks stand, and the sale from any other building or structure is hereby prohibited. Temporary stands shall be subject to the following provisions:

A. No fireworks stand shall be located within twenty-five feet of any other building nor within one hundred feet of any premises where flammable liquids are dispensed.

B. Fireworks stands as temporary structures shall not be subject to the terms and provisions of the Building Code applicable to the construction of permanent structures or buildings, provided, however, that all such stands are erected under the supervision of the Building Official, who shall require such stands to be constructed in a manner which will reasonably insure the safety of attendants and patrons. All utilities shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the Building Code.

C. No stand shall have a floor area in excess of four hundred square feet.

D. Each stand must have at least two exits; and each stand in excess of forty feet in length must have at least three exits, spaced approximately equally distant apart; provided, however, that in no case shall the distance between the exits exceed twenty-four feet.

E. Each stand shall be provided with two, two and one-half gallons of soda and acid or equivalent type fire extinguishers, in good working order and easily accessible for use in case of fire.

F. Each stand shall be located, as provided in Article IX, in the proper zone therefor, with the exception that no fireworks stand shall be established within the Civic Center District. The Civic Center District is defined as that area bordered by Del Amo Boulevard to the south, Candlewood Street to the north, Clark Avenue to the west, and Civic Center Way to the east. The City Council hereby finds and determines that fireworks stands, because of their temporary nature and structure, are inconsistent with and incompatible with the design and architecture of the Civic Center District and are, therefore, prohibited within the Civic Center District.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

G. Said fireworks stands shall be so located as to provide safe and reasonable ingress and egress thereto and to comply with the other provisions and terms of this chapter. Said stands shall be located substantially at that place indicated on the approved permit for such fireworks stand.

H. The total amount of any compensation paid by an organization to the property owner or manager for the cost of renting a location for placement of a fireworks stand, whether paid in cash or merchandise, and whether paid by the organization or other party, including a company distributing fireworks, shall be calculated in a manner established by City Council Resolution.

[Added by Ord. 2002-2; amended by Ord. 2024-2]

A. Stands shall not be located closer than five hundred feet apart, and no more than two stands shall be located on the same parcel of property. Those persons or organizations having a continuous agreement with a property owner since the Year 2001, in the discretion of the City Council, may continue to utilize such a site until such time that the use has been suspended or discontinued in any given year, and provided that the organization is qualified under all other sections of this Chapter of the Lakewood Municipal Code to hold a permit for a fireworks stand.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

B. All weeds and combustible material, not including structures, shall be cleared from the location of the stand, and for a distance of at least one hundred feet surrounding the stand.

C. "No smoking" signs shall be prominently displayed in four-inch letters, both inside and outside the fireworks stand. No person shall smoke or burn any cigarettes, cigars, pipes or things within such stand or within a distance of twenty feet surrounding such stand.

D. Each stand must have an adult watchman or attendant in attendance and in charge thereof at all times while fireworks are stored therein. No cooking, living or sleeping facilities shall be established or maintained within any stand. No watchman or guard shall sleep inside any such stand.

E. All unsold stock and accompanying litter shall be removed from the location by 12:00 o'clock noon on the 5th day of July.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

F. No fireworks stand shall be installed prior to 12:00 o'clock noon on June 21st and each such stand shall be removed from the temporary location by 12:00 o'clock noon on the 10th day of July and all accompanying litter, debris, building materials, utility connections, and other facilities or equipment or materials shall be cleared from said location by said time and date.

[Amended by Ord. 2002-2]

G. All permits and licenses shall expire at 10:00 p.m. on the 4th day of July each year. Any permit or license shall be subject to suspension by order of the Fire Chief if he or his duly authorized deputy has determined that any permittee has failed to comply with the terms and provisions of this Code or any condition of the permit and provided, further, that the procedure of notice and review by the License and Permit Hearing Board in the time and manner specified in Article VI of this Code is complied with. Any such permit or license may be revoked by the City Council, or said Board, when it has found and determined that a permittee has failed to comply with the terms and provisions of this Code or with any of the conditions of said permit or where the Council or said Board has found and determined that the preservation of the public health, safety, peace and welfare demand revocation of said license or permit, or where a permit or license has been granted on false or fraudulent evidence, testimony or application.

[Added by Ord. 445; amended by Ord. 2002-2]

H. No less than one hundred percent of the gross proceeds derived from the sale of fireworks in the City, less only expenses related to the cost of purchasing the fireworks actually sold and costs incurred in complying with this chapter, shall be spent to benefit patriotic, veteran, civic betterment, religious, welfare, youth or charitable purposes within the City of Lakewood. An accounting of gross receipts, all expenditures and the use of the net profits, along with a copy of the corresponding State sales tax report, shall be presented to the Director of Finance no later than April 1st of the following year. Said report must be in a format acceptable to the Director of Finance.

[Added by Ord. 2002-2]

[Added by Ord. 445]

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3105, public display of fireworks, as defined in the State Fireworks Law, may be conducted subject to all of the terms and provisions therein contained and only if a permit therefor has been granted by the Fire Chief and the City Council. Such public displays, in addition, shall be subject to all rules and regulations contained in the Fire Prevention Code.