[uujudy]

Originally Posted by NJblue

I agree that it would be great, but when I put on my devil's advocate hat, I come up with the following reasons why it may not be done:

Cost - fireworks aren't cheap, so who would pay? The developer? I would assume that for the developer to pay that it would have to be as a result of a positive payback - would it help sell more houses? Would it allow an increase in commercial rents for the businesses? Not too likely in either case. How about if the CDD pay for it? That would have to come from our amenity fees which means that something else would have to be sacrificed.

Viewing area - When you think of the thousands who would show up for this, where would they all stand/sit? The boardwalk area is quite limited, as is the hotel area. There's some space on the bridge, but not much. I suppose the Palmer golf course could be closed to accomodate spectators, but at what cost to the grounds and greens? In all likelihood the golf course would have to hire extra security just to keep people away. A probably not unfounded fear is that a lot of vegetation all around the lake would be trampled with people trying to find a better vantage point. There is also the fear that private property may be trespassed upon with people thinking "well, they're not here for the summer and they won't mind."

NJBlue, I agree with you. In addition to the cost of the fireworks and the thousands of people who would crowd the boardwalk (would it collapse with that many people?), the smoke & haze from fireworks is terrible & the fireworks debris is filthy. You know what your water bucket looks like after setting off a few fireworks at home. Can you imagine all that filth in our beautiful Lake Sumter? And then there's always the chance of a rocket that veers off course. In my opinion the fire danger alone is enough of a reason to ban fireworks. Shooting off fireworks near houses with gas lines in the roofs & the burning embers falling on palm trees just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.