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The LaGrange City Council unanimously passed an amendment to its noise ordinance Tuesday evening to restrict the hours during which fireworks can be shot. 

Effective immediately, fireworks cannot be shot between 9 p.m. and 2 p.m. In other words, fireworks are only allowed to be shot from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The council drafted the amendment in conjunction with the LaGrange Police Department after residents complained that people were shooting fireworks late at night and in the early hours of the morning around the Fourth of July, sometimes days after the holiday.

Under state law, consumer fireworks are already prohibited from being fired after midnight except on certain holidays, and can be fired starting at 10 a.m. on normal days. The local ordinance restricts those hours on normal days, but the exceptions for holidays remain in effect.

The state law says fireworks can be shot from 10 a.m. until midnight on the last Saturday and Sunday in May (Memorial Day weekend), July 3 and July 4. Fireworks can be fired from 10 a.m. on New Year’s Eve until 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day. 

The council also held a first reading of an amendment to its disorderly house ordinance that would hold owners accountable for disorderly tenants or occupants. Under the existing ordinance, a house that is disorderly is “where noisy or riotous persons assemble to the common annoyance and disturbance of citizens in the neighborhood.” 

Under the amendment, property owners, not just residents, would also be found in violation of the ordinance. 

If an owner is found in violation, a written notice would be provided, and if the problem persisted, anyone in violation would be fined a minimum of $500 per violation. 

A public hearing, second reading and vote on the disorderly house ordinance will be held at a future meeting