Hollywood gives first OK to ban on plastic foam in public places

Walking on the beach with a Styrofoam cup full of coffee could soon cost you a $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

Hollywood on Wednesday gave initial approval to banning polystyrene food packaging in public places, including city parks and the beach. It would not apply to restaurants using polystyrene on private property.

A final vote is expected later this month or next.

Polystyrene is said by experts to take hundreds of years to decompose and already has been banned by Miami Beach, New York City and San Francisco. In June, Deerfield Beach banned polystyrene from city events and city vendors, citing the need to protect marine life and the environment. In Hollywood, the idea is to get restaurants downtown and at the beach to stop using it, Mayor Josh Levy said. Last year, state legislators prohibited cities from passing outright bans on the product.

“This is not intended for us to police beachgoers and give them tickets,” Levy said after the meeting. “Although we would have the ability to do that, I don’t think we’d pursue it to that degree. This is just one way to elevate the awareness of why we need to use biodegradable products.”

Patricia Antrican supports the decision.

“It’s a no-brainer,” she said. “We should have done it years ago. You can’t clean it up.”

Resident Raiza Perrault gave commissioners several reasons to outlaw polystyrene.

“Animals mistake it for food,” she said. “It’s expensive to clean up. Recycling polystyrene is not economical. [The ban is] an important step to help solve the problem of littering and pollution.”