Del Mar to vote on plastic bag ban Feb. 16

Del Mar could soon become the third city in North County to ban single-use plastic bags

The City Council is scheduled to vote this month on an ordinance that will prohibit businesses from distributing the bags. Shoppers will be encouraged to bring reusable bags, and retailers can charge 10 cents for each paper bag they pass out.

The proposal came from the city’s Sustainability Advisory Board, which said plastic bags pollute the ocean and waterways and endanger wildlife.

“One of the big draws to Del Mar is the beach and we just find that there are tremendous amounts of plastic bags on the beach,” said Helen Eckmann, a member of the group. “It’s expensive to get rid of them and they are hard on the wildlife.”

In December, the City Council agreed to ask staff to draft an ordinance for a vote on Feb. 16.

The proposed ordinance, which has not been finalized, is being modeled after similar ones adopted in Encinitas and Solana Beach, said Kristen Crane, Del Mar’s management services director.

If approved, the ordinance would give stores a six-month grace period to stop using single-use plastic bags. Restaurants and the Del Mar Farmers Market would have a one-year grace period. The ordinance would also exempt some types of plastic bags, such as ones used to carry wrap containers of hot liquids such as soups.

Individual businesses would be allowed to request extensions if they need more time to comply with the law, Crane said.

The ban would not apply to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

More than 125 cities in California have banned the distribution of single-use plastic bags. A move to consider a ban in Oceanside was narrowly defeated in October.

Oceanside Deputy Mayor Chuck Lowery had suggested the ban. Mayor Jim Wood voted in favor of that idea, but council members Esther Sanchez, Jack Feller and Jerry Kern opposed it.

Kern said the ban would put Oceanside businesses at a competitive disadvantage against businesses in neighboring cities, such as Carlsbad and Vista, that don’t ban plastic shopping bags. He also cited a challenge of a statewide ban that will not be decided until next year.

In September 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 270, which would outlaw the bags. That law’s implementation is on hold because opponents qualified a referendum for the November 2016 ballot.