Glendale considers plastic bag ban

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Glendale could become the next major city in Los Angeles County to ban plastic bags at grocery stores when the City Council takes up the matter at its meeting Tuesday night.

It’s a proposal the city has been mulling for years but which only now has come back in the form of an ordinance. Glendale’s proposed ban is modeled after a countywide ban that took effect in 2011, but would go a step further by including farmer’s markets and all city-sponsored events, as well as any event held on city property.

If approved Tuesday night, the ban will take effect in two phases. In six months it would affect large grocery stores — those with at least 10,000 square feet that include a pharmacy — and farmer’s markets. Smaller grocers, liquor stores and city events would have 12 months to comply, the Glendale News-Press reported.

Citations would be issued based on complaints filed by the public. After a first-time written notice, violators would be subject to a $100 fine, which increases to $500 after the second citation, according to the proposed ordinance.

‘I think it’s a small measure that will lead to great results,’ Mayor Frank Quintero said in an interview Monday, referring to litter in the city-owned Scholl Canyon Landfill.

Other council members on Monday said they were in favor of the ban so long as businesses were on board — and many appear to be.

Several large retailers, such as Ralphs and Albertsons, have supported the ban in the past, preferring a similar law throughout the state rather than the city-by-city patchwork that currently exists.

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-- Brittany Levine, Times Community News