Shoppers in unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County won’t
receive single-use grocery bags before long if the board of
supervisors continue to vote in favor of the ban as they did
Tuesday morning. A 4-1 vote – District 1 Supervisor Don Gage was
the only nay
– established an ordinance to move toward outlawing plastic and
paper bags at grocery or merchandise stores in San Martin and other
unincorporated areas.
Shoppers in unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County won’t receive single-use grocery bags before long if the board of supervisors continue to vote in favor of the ban as they did Tuesday morning. A 4-1 vote *- District 1 Supervisor Don Gage was the only nay – established an ordinance to move toward outlawing plastic and paper bags at grocery or merchandise stores in San Martin and other unincorporated areas.
“The board wanted the staff to prepare the ordinance now, which I think is a mistake because there’s not public input right now,” Gage said. With a few exceptions, such as fruit or nut stands, there are 30 stores in District 1 that would be affected by the ban – the board identifies 52 total stores in the county that distribute 32,000 single-use bags annually.
In October, the ordinance will be brought back to the board for approval. The change would force shoppers to bring their own reusable cloth bags or have the option of purchasing single-use bags for about 25 cents per bag.
About 600 single-use carryout bags are used per person each year in California, according to the California Department of Recycling. This ban would serve as part of a regional effort aimed at reducing single-use bags littering sides of roads, damaging drainage systems, harming wildlife, and polluting local creeks and streams, according to the county.
But the ordinance could be trumped. Assembly Bill 1998, introduced Feb. 17 by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), would prohibit a store from providing a plastic carryout bag to a customer and require a store to either make reusable bags available for purchase by or provide a paper carryout bag that is subject to a “green bag fee” of about 25 cents per bag.
Gage said the board should wait for that bill to go to ballot at the state level, which would supercede the county’s decision. He also expressed his concern at the meeting that the county not rush into a decision to ban single-use bags because he believes more stakeholder input is needed.
“You’re being premature in doing this ordinance because you don’t know what’s going on from the state,” Gage said. He said the chamber of commerces in District 1 wanted more time to discuss the impacts before it became an ordinance, but those wishes were not granted.
“Over the past year, I have heard from many residents that support banning single-use bags,” said Supervisor Ken Yeager, president of the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors in a press release. “People are becoming increasingly aware of the very real harm these bags pose to our environment.”
Tom Rocca, owner of Rocca’s Market in San Martin, was unhappy about the board’s decision this week, saying his store already has many expenses.
“Every time I go to the post office, there’s another permit, another fee,” he said.
Although the ordinance would only impact stores in unincorporated areas, he said the larger chain stores that could most easily deal with the expense of switching to reusable bags tend to operate within city limits.
At the same time, he said he has been gearing up for the switch for close to a year, noting similar policies that have been approved in other areas such as the City of San Francisco. Rocca said he will do whatever it takes to continue to look after his customers regardless of whether the ordinance is enacted.
“Once a human being walks in as a customer, I take care of them,” Rocca said. “If I have to sell them a reusable bag, that’s what I’ll do.”
