By Angela Carella
Feb 6, 2020
Stamford representatives have set a public hearing for a proposed law that would prohibit restaurants, bars and coffee shops from providing plastic straws unless customers ask.
ERIC BARADAT / AFP /Getty Images
STAMFORD — Get ready to say goodbye to more plastic.
Last spring stores stopped providing plastic carry-out bags. This spring it may be that restaurants, bars, coffee shops, delicatessens and movie theaters will stop handing out plastic straws — unless you ask — and that plastic stirrers will be banned.
The Board of Representatives Monday voted unanimously to send a proposed straw law to public hearing. If, after the hearing — expected to be scheduled for later this month — representatives approve the ordinance in March, Mayor David Martin is prepared to sign it, his office said Wednesday. It would take effect three months after that.
It’s the latest in the board’s effort to act with other U.S. cities that are trying, one by one, to curb the amount of plastic that ends up in oceans and landfills.
“It’s a good brick to place in the wall of environmental protection in southern Connecticut,” said Rep. Jonathan Jacobson, a leader in the effort. “We hope it spreads across the state, the country and the world. We need to be more conscious of what we are doing in our community to contribute to environmental harm.”
Stamford lawmakers worked closely with their counterparts in Norwalk to draw up the proposed ordinance. It says no food or beverage establishment in Stamford “shall sell, provide or distribute” plastic straws unless a customer asks.
The ask-first provision is designed to accommodate disabled persons who need straws to drink, Jacobson said.
“An outright ban is in the best interest of the environment, but it prejudices the disabled community,” he said. “This is a reasonable compromise consistent with what Norwalk did.”
Establishments may provide straws made of paper or another biodegradable material. But anyone, able-bodied or disabled, who wants a plastic straw will have to ask for one.
“It’s ultimately a business decision as to whether restaurants and other establishments keep plastic straws. The law does not require them to do so,” Jacobson said. “If someone requests it and they have it, they can give it to you. The only thing they are precluded from doing is giving it to you outright.”
The straw law would affect restaurants, bars, liquor stores, delicatessens, coffee shops, movie theaters, convenience stores, food trucks, take-out restaurants, delivery services and caterers.
“A lot of establishments have already stopped giving out plastic straws,” Jacobson said.
The law would not pertain to hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other medical or dental facilities.
Besides paper, acceptable straws may be made of pasta, sugar cane, wood, bamboo or metal.
The law does not apply to plastic straws that come with packaged, sealed beverages, such as children’s juice boxes.
Plastic stirrers would be banned without exceptions.
The law would be enforced by the city’s civil citation officers, who would issue written warnings for first violations, a $150 penalty for second violations, and a $250 penalty for third and each subsequent violation.
Only one penalty may be imposed on the same establishment within a seven-day period, according to the ordinance.
At some point after the straw law is enacted the Board of Representatives will assess it, Jacobson said. His colleagues may want to tweak the ask-first policy, for example, he said.
“Laws are living, breathing things,” Jacobson said. “It’s our duty to at least discuss it.”
The board will do that in March or April with the plastic bag ban, which took effect last May, he said. It prohibits retail stores from providing single-use plastic bags for carrying out purchases. Instead stores stock paper bags for customers who request them, and may charge 10 cents for each.
“After we’ve had a year to watch it, we may want to look at the charge for paper bags by all retail establishments,” Jacobson said. “We may need to discuss whether we want to limit the charge just to grocery stores.”
From the feedback he’s received, he concludes that “Stamford residents are happy with the elimination of single-use plastic bags,” Jacobson said.
Some residents are even enforcing the bag ban, he said. When CVS drugstores continued to provide plastic bags after the ban was enacted, a number of residents contacted the corporation’s headquarters to report it, he said.
“As author of the law, I’ve seen overwhelming success,” Jacobson said.
Like Stamford, Norwalk incorporated an ask-first policy for plastic straws and outright banned plastic stirrers. Norwalk’s straw law takes effect on Earth Day, April 22, as does its ban on Styrofoam cups, containers and packaging. Norwalk also has banned single-use plastic bags.
Stamford legislators are set to begin discussing a Styrofoam ban, Jacobson said.
“We anticipate taking that up this month or next month, and it could go up for a public hearing this spring,” he said.
It looks like residents are largely behind such laws, Jacobson said.
“There is a lot of support in Stamford for environmentally friendly legislation,” he said. “We’re a coastal community. We have a vested interest in protecting Long Island Sound.”
acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296.
Feb 6, 2020
Angela Carella
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