Party planners, restaurants and other businesses in Santa Barbara soon will have to comply with a new list of regulations regarding single-use plastic. 

The Santa Barbara City Council approved a new ordinance on Tuesday that will ban rigid styrofoam food containers, non-compostable disposable cutlery, small plastic water bottles, mylar balloons and plastic confetti. 

The ordinance was approved in a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Randy Rowse voting against it. Councilman Mike Jordan was absent, and Councilman Eric Friedman abstained from the vote because some of the materials are sold at his job at Trader Joe’s.

While Rowse was supportive of some aspects of the ordinance, such as the ban on plastic confetti, he had concerns about the impact to local businesses. 

“This is a worthy effort, and it’s correct to take these materials out of the environment, but we have to do so thoughtfully,” Rowse said. “I think we have a lot of small-business people that are depending on us doing things thoughtfully.”

Rowse said he was particularly concerned about how grocers would deal with a ban on rigid styrofoam food containers, how local restaurants would be impacted by the ban on disposable cutlery, and how stores would be impacted by the ban of small plastic water bottles.

The proposed changes include a ban on the sale and distribution of rigid styrofoam food containers within the city, a ban on the sale of single-use water bottles eight ounces or smaller, a ban on the distribution of non-compostable disposable foodware and cutlery, the sale of mylar and plastic confetti, the sale of mylar balloons, and all plastic carryout bags in stores. The release of latex balloons also will be prohibited.

At permitted events, 10% of drinks served would need to be in reusable cups.

The new ordinance was first considered by the Santa Barbara Ordinance Committee in December. The committee consists of Jordan, Councilman Oscar Gutierrez and Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon, who unanimously approved moving the ordinance forward to the full council. 

On the way to City Hall, Sneddon said she saw a mylar balloon stuck in a tree, which she said was hard not to see as a sign to support the ordinance. 

Councilwoman Wendy Santamaria said the ordinance was important to address climate concerns. 

“There is one thing clear, that our climate crisis is accelerating at alarming rates,” Santamaria said. “There is no denying that, and every step that we can take to help preserve our coastline, preserve our environment is very much worthwhile.”

Maria Stockham, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Celebration, was fully supportive of prohibiting the release of balloons, but she said banning the sale of balloons isn’t enough to stop that behavior. 

“Across the country, sales bans have simply shifted purchases online, or to neighboring communities, while responsible local businesses and artists absorb the economic harm without achieving the intended environmental outcome,” Stockham said.

Instead, she recommended educational materials, or permitting for certain uses where proper disposal of the balloons would be required. 

Penny Owens, education and community outreach director with Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, said they are regularly cleaning up mylar balloons found in the environment.

“We see them out on the Channel Islands during our beach cleanups, on the back side of Santa Cruz Island,” Owens said. “I’ve seen them personally high up in the Sierras, far away from civilization. I just saw one blowing away in the air, sadly, on my drive home from work the other week.”

The ordinance will return to the council for a second reading at the next City Council meeting and then would go into effect 40 days after adoption.