The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 51 - December 19, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds............................9
Crossword/Sudoku.............9
Holiday Parade..................11
Legals.................................4,8
Obituaries.............................2
Real Estate....................... 5-7
School Spotlight..................3
Senior Tea............................2
Spotlight................................3
Weekend
Forecast
The Annual Holiday Parade
Celebrates 56th Year on Main
Alexandra Sloan and Lily Craig enjoy the fun and show Chevron’s #1. For more photos see page 11. Photo by Gregg McMullin.
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
70˚/51˚
Saturday
Cloudy
66˚/52˚
Sunday
Rain
62˚/53˚
Council Considers Banning Plastic
Straws, Utensils Except on Request
By Rob McCarthy
Restaurants, coffee houses and convenience
stores were served notice Tuesday night
that El Segundo might ban the giveaway of
plastic straws and utensils, though customers
who ask for them will still be provided the
disposable plastic items.
Several members of the city’s Environmental
Committee urged the City Council to reduce
the waste stream of plastic on the beaches
and coastal waters. Committee member Corrie
Zupo said that by taking action with a singleuse
plastics ban, El Segundo would set an
example for inland communities to follow.
Manhattan and Hermosa Beach have enacted
their own plastics-free laws. Their ordinances
go much further than the “upon request” rule
El Segundo is considering. Those cities have
banned plastic and polystyrene packaging wrap,
plates, bowls, and egg cartons, according to
El Segundo city staff. Balloons are banned,
too. Diners in the two beach cities even must
request non-plastic straws, along with coffee
stirrers and eating utensils.
Environmental Committee Chairwoman
Tracey Miller-Zarneke hoped the proposed
El Segundo law would go further and restrict
more types of consumer plastic items, she
said. Still, the ordinance affecting food and
beverage providers is “on the right path,”
she said.
The ordinance would forbid restaurants,
coffee shops, and convenience stores with
fountain-drink dispensers from automatically
handing out plastic straws, utensils and coffee
stirrers. If approved, the new law would go
into effect 90 days later. The businesses need
that time to make the necessary changes to
their operations and to train their employees.
“I hope after you support this ordinance you
will also allow our committee to help educate
our local community about the fact that going
plastic-free is not as painful or expensive as
people may think it is,” Miller-Zarneke said.
No one spoke Tuesday in opposition to a
food-service plastic ban. Eateries that serve
food and beverages, along with private caterers,
food vendors, and civic groups with kitchens,
bars and drink stations, could ask the city
manager for up to one year to comply with
the ordinance. Requests must be submitted
in writing, and must explain why the new
code section causes undue hardship on the
business, organization or individual.
The city manager has 10 days to decide
whether to grant a delay or exemption, the
drafted ordinance says.
The council voted unanimously to advance
the item for action at its next regularly scheduled
meeting on Jan. 21. When the council reconvenes,
it will be without Councilman Don Braunn
who is resigning early before his term expires
in April because of a new state law on Jan. 1.
Braunn cannot serve on the city council
and keep his board position with the DaVinci
schools, under the new law. He announced
in November he would give up his council
seat - one of three that will be open in the
next election on Tuesday, March 3.
Having an plastics-reduction ordinance
would give El Segundo more control over the
amount of single-use plastic, Public Works
Director Ken Berkman advised the council
in the agenda packet. And, El Segundo is on
solid legal footing, based on other court cases,
according to City Attorney Mark Hensley.
Courts have backed civic ordinances to
curb consumer plastics as long as the intent
was to protect a natural resource, he said
during the council discussion of the legality
of telling food and beverage operators how to
run their businesses. The California Supreme
Court upheld Manhattan Beach’s plastics-free
law, ruling that it was exempt from further
environmental review because the reason for
the ordinance was to protect the beaches.
The California Legislature considered a
plastic-reduction measure this year, last but
the legislative session ended in September
without the bill reaching the governor’s desk.
Miller-Zarneke said the “upon request”
policy being considered for El Segundo’s
food and beverage businesses isn’t as radical
as it might sound.
“The chemical and restaurant industries
already acknowledge that moving toward
sustainable food products is a necessary effort,
and we want to inspire the community
to make the switch before the state imposes
the restrictions on cities,” she said during
public comments before the council voted to
advance the single-use plastics ban.
Food providers that sell prepared or raw food,
or beverages, to the public for consumption
would come under the new ordinance. That
includes grocers, supermarkets, drive-throughs,
cafes, farmers markets and snack bars. And, it
would apply to food trucks and carts, caterers,
vending machines and any organization
or group that serves its members as part of
its activities, according to the ordinance. The
same applies to beverages.
Any business, organization or person who
serves liquid, slurry, frozen or semi-frozen or
other types of beverages would be held to the
new plastics-free policy.
See City Council, page 9