As you are aware, area resident Noah Denny first came to speak to you about a ban on plastic straws and polystyrene products during the Vox Pop portion of your regular meeting on February 19, 2019. Over the next several months, Mr. Denny appeared at several Council meetings to reiterate his concerns and encourage City Council to consider a ban. The City’s Environmental Committee submitted a letter of support of the Mr. Denny’s project to staff on May 20, 2019. On June 4, 2019, Mr. Denny made a final presentation to City Council on the proposed ban. After the presentation, our City Attorney presented a memorandum regarding banning plastic bags, straws and polystyrene. In short, the memorandum stated that since Governor DeSantis vetoed the bill which would have pre-empted regulation of plastic straws to the State, the issue has thus far been preserved to local governments.
On July 24, 2019, staff sent a letter to the owners of eating and drinking establishments in the downtown area in order to gauge their level of support for the proposed plastic straw ban and how they could foresee the proposed ban affecting their business. Of the responses received, all but one were in favor of not imposing any type of ban at this time.
Although we applaud Mr. Denny’s efforts to bring this important issue to the forefront, at this time it is staff’s recommendation that the City do not move forward with any type of ban. I am sure this issue will once again be brought forward during the upcoming legislative session and it would be prudent to wait and see if our legislators vote to change any State laws.
In the interim, it would be staff’s recommendation to encourage all of our local businesses to voluntarily withhold from using plastic straws and to seek using straws made from other materials.