Castle Rock Town Council holds the first reading Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, at 6 p.m., on an ordinance that would close a gap residents and the Fire Department have both complained about: under the Town's current code, you can buy fireworks during a Stage 1 fire restriction, you just can't set them off.
Item 17 on the Council agenda, Ordinance 2026-035, amends Chapters 8.24 (fireworks) and 8.26 (open fire and open burning restrictions) of the Castle Rock Municipal Code. It's a first reading only. Colorado home-rule ordinances need a second, final reading before they become law, and as of Oct. 5, 2026, the Town's Legistar record for the matter did not list a date for that second reading.
It's a busy night at Town Hall: the same Oct. 6 agenda also carries first readings on a $411.8 million 2027 budget and a 2027 Castle Rock Water rate increase, plus the second and final reading of the kratom retail sales ban. Elsewhere on Council's fall calendar: a theft-reporting ordinance that's been continued to Oct. 20.
Why the Fire Department wants the change
Castle Rock Fire and Rescue's own presentation to Council lays out the problem plainly: "Personal fireworks are currently allowed for sale during Stage 1 fire restrictions, but cannot be used." That mismatch, the presentation says, "causes confusion among residents that can purchase but not use" and "generates numerous complaints about why we allow the sale during fire restrictions."
There's also a timing problem. Fire restrictions move with weather and fuel conditions that are hard to predict heading into the Fourth of July, which the presentation says makes it "challenging to anticipate whether use will be allowed or not and difficult to enforce the code." The fix the Fire Department is recommending: ban the sale of personal fireworks during Stage 1, the same way it's already banned under Stage 2.
What else the ordinance would clarify
A few other pieces of the fireworks code would get spelled out for the first time:
- Sales window: permits and sales of permissible fireworks would run from June 1 through July 4 each year.
- Personal use: allowed only on July 4, between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
- Professional displays: permitted commercial fireworks shows would still be allowed under Stage 1, and still prohibited under Stage 2.
Patio and grill rules, stage by stage
The ordinance also rewrites Chapter 8.26 to spell out exactly what's allowed on a patio or in a backyard during fire restrictions.
Under Stage 1, these would stay allowed:
- Residential use of charcoal grills
- Pellet, wood or electric smokers
- Gas- or propane-fueled outdoor fireplaces, fire tables and fire bowls, as long as they have a working shutoff valve
- Petroleum-fueled stoves, lanterns and heating devices
- Chimineas, portable fireplaces and patio fire pits, supervised by someone at least 21 years old
Under Stage 2, the rules tighten: charcoal grills and any wood- or charcoal-fueled fire in a chiminea, portable fireplace or patio fire pit would be prohibited, along with everything already banned under Stage 1. Still allowed: gas- or liquid-fueled stoves and grills, and the same gas/propane fireplaces, fire tables and fire bowls as Stage 1, plus enclosed pellet, wood or electric smokers, as long as they're continuously monitored.
A general rule applies to anything allowed under either stage: it has to keep clearance from combustibles, have a way to put it out close at hand, and stop immediately if it throws sparks or embers, or if the Fire Chief or Fire Marshal orders it stopped.
Why this matters this year
Castle Rock's fire restrictions have swung twice already in 2026. The Town moved to Stage 2 restrictions on July 2, which cancelled the Festival Park fireworks show entirely for the Fourth of July. Restrictions then came off entirely in mid-September, when the Town lifted its Stage 1 fire restrictions along with the rest of the county. This ordinance is aimed at closing the Stage 1 sales loophole before conditions swing again.
Castle Rock's Public Safety Commission and Town staff both recommend adoption.
Sources: Castle Rock Town Council agenda, Oct. 6, 2026, Item 17, Ordinance 2026-035; Legistar matter record for ORD 2026-035 (status and reading history, checked Oct. 5, 2026); draft Ordinance 2026-035, Attachment A; Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department presentation to Town Council, Attachment B. All checked Oct. 5, 2026.