ENCINITAS COUNCIL MOVES TO BAN HELIUM-FILLED BALLOONS

Ordinance seeks to cut plastic pollution at area beaches, wildlife habitats

The brief moment of joy that comes from having a helium-filled balloon isn’t worth the beach trash and wildlife hazards that escaped balloons create, the Encinitas City Council decided Wednesday.

In a unanimous vote, the council gave its initial approval to a proposed city ordinance that will ban the use, sale and distribution of “lighter-than-air,” or helium-filled, balloons. It’ll need a second vote at a later council meeting before it can go into effect.

Council members said Wednesday that they wholeheartedly supported the proposal, which was brought forward by the city’s Environmental Commission.

“I think we need to be reducing plastics in every possible way,” Mayor Catherine Blakespear said as she declared that she “absolutely” backed the idea of banning heliumfilled balloons.

Councilmembers Kellie Shay Hinze and Joe Mosca both noted that Encinitas has been a leader in banning other plastic waste, including Styrofoam and single-use plastic bags, and said they were proud to support the city’s latest proposal.

“Hopefully, when Encinitas leads, others will follow,” Mosca said as he responded to opponents’ arguments that the ban wouldn’t be that effective because people could just buy helium-filled balloons from neighboring cities.

Councilmember Tony Kranz said he knows that it isn’t easy for businesses to have to change to meet the changing times — the printing industry he works for has experienced this — but there are alternatives for balloon retailers. The city’s proposed ban only will apply to “lighter-than-air-filled” balloons, so air-filled balloons can be used in arrangements, he noted.

While council members reported receiving hundreds of emails on the balloon ban proposal in recent days, only six people spoke during public comment on the item Wednesday, and they were evenly split over the issue.

Opponents included repre