Environment |

Balloon ban made official in Laguna Beach, goes into effect next year

Environmentalists are cheering the Laguna Beach City Council’s decision to proceed with a ban on the use of balloons of all kinds on public property and the sale and distribution citywide.

The ban approved at the council’s Feb. 21 meeting will take effect at the start of next year. Those who support the effort say they hope it will influence other cities up and down the coast to follow suit. Two coastal communities in San Diego County and at least one coastal city in Los Angeles County already have some form of a balloon ban.

Those found in violation could face fines ranging from $100 to $500, officials said. If a business has four violations in a year, its business license could be revoked.

Education efforts will now ramp up, Councilwoman Sue Kempf said, including posts on social media, messages on the city’s electronic signs on Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road, local advertisements and some sort of outreach to local businesses and resorts.

“Full council support of the balloon ban was a no-brainer,” Kempf said. “All of the Laguna Beach City Council members are environmentally conscious and have historically brought forth initiatives to protect our beautiful natural resources. Two years ago, we banned single-use plastics in Laguna Beach, so this is just a continuation of further environmental policies.”

People representing diverse groups brought their concerns with balloons to the council’s Tuesday meeting, saying balloon strings can entangle sea life – especially harmful to sea turtles – and offering firsthand accounts of a sea lion treated at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, which later died and had balloon debris found in its stomach. Others spoke of general pollution from balloons, whether in the ocean, on the beach or caught in trees on land.

“All these balloons are pollution whether they wind up on the land, in the sand or the ocean,” said resident Rich German

He previously gathered 1,500 signatures through his Project O nonprofit several years ago to support a balloon ban in Laguna Beach. German, who has said he regularly scoops balloons out of the water while paddleboarding, partnered with other groups like the Surfrider Foundation, Laguna Ocean Foundation and Laguna Canyon Foundation to raise awareness of the problems they say balloons can create.

He pointed to a post on Instagram that showed snippets from the council meeting and by Friday had more than 66,0000 views and said he is now hopeful Laguna Beach will ignite interest among other Southern California cities.

Dr. Lauren Palmer, veterinarian at the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles, said she has treated her share of sea lions that have ingested balloons. The balloons can get stuck in marine mammal’s throats or stomach and ultimately lead to starvation.

She, too, is excited by Laguna Beach’s pending ban and encourages other coastal towns in Los Angeles County to consider taking similar action. Hermosa Beach city leaders have already prohibited balloons along with other single-use plastics. Glendale has as well.

“Anything we can do to reduce trash like this in the ocean,” she said, “is worth considering.”

Mark Christy, who operates the Laguna Beach Ranch Resort, was also among those who have advocated for the balloon ban. The resort, located in Aliso Canyon and just steps from Aliso Beach, has prohibited the use of balloons on its property for years.

“We’ve just had too many major blemishes lingering in our pristine hillsides,” Christy said. “I’ve watched the devastation of transformer fires and worst of all, seen graphic autopsy photos from sea lions and sea birds over the last 30 years with balloons in their digestive tracks.”

Christy said it was John Cunningham – co-founder of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center and also a local teacher – who decades ago taught him and others in junior high and high school about the danger of balloons to marine life.

“We’ve all loved balloons since we were kids, but once you’ve witnessed the side effects you realize the long-term risks outweigh the short-term joy,” he said. “Our mission as a company is to leave the campsite cleaner than we found it, and this is a small sacrifice that we, and we hope others, are willing to make.”