The council's legislative committee met to discuss the proposed ordinance by Parish Councilman Paul Hogan on July 7.
"People want to pop fireworks. Why not let them and let the parish make some money off of it?" he asked.
It is illegal to sell or ignite fireworks in the parish. Fireworks are legal during certain periods in neighboring St. John the Baptist and Lafourche parishes.
Hogan said Wednesday that he is making changes in the ordinance that will be considered at a future council committee meeting. The measure is based on St. Bernard Parish's ordinance.
Hogan's initial ordinance called for allowing four stands on each side of the river in the parish and for awarding the licenses with a drawing on an annual basis.
Hogan proposes that each vendor pay a $3,000 annual fee covering both the New Year's and July Fourth holidays and that fireworks could be legally ignited about a week before each holiday.
The measure faces opposition from Councilman Billy Raymond Sr. and concerns from council members Dennis Nuss, Terry Authement and Wendy Benedetto.
Raymond opposes the idea and said residents already are concerned about noise.
"Personally, I'm not in favor of it," he said.
Nuss said he thinks the weeklong period before New Year's Eve and the July Fourth holiday are too long.
"A lot of people in the parish are shift workers," he said.
Sheriff Greg Champagne and the parish's fire departments have not weighed in on the issue. Planning and Zoning Director Kim Marousek noted that her department would have to draw up forms and procedures for the project, particularly if it has to conduct a drawing for a limited number of licenses to sell fireworks.
The ordinance also does not address the issue of who will police the fireworks stands to make sure they are selling only to adults and that the vendors are selling only permissible fireworks, Marousek said.
Authement said he would be more enthusiastic about the idea if the sales would generate significant revenue for the parish.
"If that's the case, let's put one on every corner and start building levees, but I don't think it's going to change life in St. Charles Parish because of the revenue stream," he said.
He also expressed concerns about fires caused by the devices.