Oviedo council members on Monday reversed course and held off enacting a six-month moratorium on issuing permits for the outdoor sale of sparklers and fireworks, two weeks after unanimously agreeing to it.

“I’m still a little uncomfortable with a moratorium,” Council Member Keith Britton said. “It doesn’t seem like state law is very clear [regarding fireworks]. And I don’t think there’s a clear avenue to go from here. I just think we need to think on it a little bit.”

Britton joined council members Bob Pollack and Jeff Boddiford in support of a motion to continue the discussion at a later date. Mayor Megan Sladek and Council Member Natalie Teuchert voted against the motion, and they did not want the Council to delay deciding whether the City should issue a moratorium.

“I’m in agreement that it’s not clear,” Teuchert said. “But I thought the whole purpose of putting the moratorium into place is so we can research the laws, and how we’re allowed to operate.”

City attorneys said they will ask for an opinion from the state Attorney General’s office to clarify to what extent fireworks sales are legal in Florida and how far local governments can go in allowing outdoor vendors to sell pyrotechnics.

Oviedo’s fireworks controversy took spark last October when Big Bang Fireworks applied for an outdoor sales permit to set up a tent on property along West Mitchell Hammock Road for the sale of pyrotechnics in time for the New Year’s festivities.

Oviedo officials said they have only issued permits for the outdoor sales of sparklers, not fireworks. On Dec. 27, a city inspector reported Big Bang was selling fireworks and sparklers not approved by the state of Florida.

The city then issued Big Bang a notice of violation. But on Feb. 24, a special magistrate tossed the case after the company’s attorney Steven Mason said his client was never provided with a citation “specifying the specific code provisions alleged to have been violated.”

Attorney Donovan Roper, who represents Oviedo, said the city has never allowed the sale of fireworks, which are illegal in Florida, with certain exceptions.

“Big Bang Fireworks has been issued only sparkler permits,” he said. “What we’ve been informed and advised is that they have been selling fireworks under the auspices of that sparkler permit. That’s what this is about.”

Council members at the April 8 meeting said a temporary halt in permits was needed to give city staff time to ask for an opinion from the Attorney General’s office and craft a new set of regulations.

On Tuesday, Mason said he was pleased Oviedo did not enact the proposed permit freeze.

He added that Big Bang plans to soon seek a new permit from Oviedo to sell sparklers and fireworks under a tent at a different location in time for the Fourth of July celebrations.

“It’s the best location,” Mason said. “And if they deny him, then we’re coming after them.”