1 STAFF REPORT
DAT
E: January 11, 2022
T
O: Justin Hess, City Manager
F
ROM: Dawn Roth Lindell, General Manager, Burbank Water and Power BY: Tiffany Titus, Legislative Analyst
S
UBJECT: Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Section 4-1- 901 of the Burbank Municipal Code Relating to the Prohibition of the Sale of Metallic or Mylar Balloons
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK AMENDING THE BURBANK MUNICIPAL CODE (BMC), ARTICLE 9, SECTION 4-1-901 BY ADDING ARTICLE 9, SECTION 4 -1-902 RELATING TO THE PROHIBIT ION OF THE SALE OF
METALLIC OR MYLAR BALLOONS, MADE OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE
MATERIALS FILLED WITH HELIUM OR GAS WHICH IS LIGHTER THAN AIR WITHIN THE CITY OF BURBANK (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND
Council Action
On January 12, 2021, at a City Council Regular Meeting, at the request of Vice Mayor Anthony, Burbank Water and Power (BWP) staff presented a report on efforts to mitigate power outages caused by mylar balloons within the City of Burbank . The City Council approved 5-0 to request a second step report with options to consider adoption of an ordinance regarding Mylar balloon regulation and advocate with state and neighboring cities to adopt the same.
A
t the October 12, 2021, City Council m eeting, staff introduced the above-entitled Ordinance. During the City Council discussion, Council voted 5 -0 to introduce the Ordinance and requested staff research additional information about what other cities are doing to implement related “Mylar balloon” Ordinance.
WATER AND
POWER
2 Vote at Introduction:
AYES: Schultz, Anthony, Springer, Talamantes, and Frutos NOES: None
ABSENT: None
DISCUSSION
Other Cities with Balloon Ordinances
This report contains additional information for consideration by the City Council as part of the second reading and adoption of the Ordinance.
The following US States h ave laws prohibiting the release of balloons : California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia. Additionally, many cities have recognized the negative impacts of mylar and latex balloons on the environment, such as plastic pollution, impact to wildlife, and public safety impacts to utility infrastructure. The California cities of Colton, Glendale, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Lompoc, Encinitas and Malibu have taken action in various ways to regulate balloons:
Table 1. California Cities Balloon Ordinances
Cities Ordinance Description
City of Colton Bans the release of any balloon or balloons inflated with a gas that is lighter than air or any sky lantern within the jurisdictional limits of the City.
City of Glendale Bans the sale and distribution of mylar balloons except for balloons filled with air only and affixed to a post or decorative structure at the point of sale.
City of Redondo
Beach
Prohibits the sale, distribution and use of balloons including “foil," "metalized," or " mylar" balloons; prohibits the use, or distribution of latex balloons filled with helium or lighter than air gas at City functions or City sponsored events; Prohibits the release of latex balloons filled with helium or lighter than air gas within city limits.
City of Manhattan
Beach
Bans the sale and distribution of mylar/foil balloons. The ordinance also regulates the use of m ylar balloons in public spaces such as beaches and parks, to prevent accidental releases. In addition, the ordinance prohibits the mass release of latex/rubber balloons in the City.
City of Hermosa
Beach
Prohibits use or distribution of foil, “metalized," or mylar balloons on public property, including beaches and parks; Prohibits the use or distribution of latex balloons at City functions or City-
sponsored events; and. Prohibits the release
of latex balloons anywhere within City limits.
3 City of Lompoc Bans the sale and release of balloons made of material that conduct electricity within the city to reduce instances of power outages in the c ity, to enhance public safety, and to better protect the health and environment of the community and nearby coastal and ocean ecosystems.
City of Malibu The City Council voted to ban balloons, but the Ordinance has not been adopted.
City of Encinitas The City’s Environmental Commission voted to recommend to their City Council to pass an Ordinance to prohibit the use, sale and distribution of balloons filled with a gas lighter than air. The ban does not apply to scientific balloons used by the state or federal government and/or hot air balloons.
Additionally, there are many municipalities outside of California that have passed local balloon ordinances:
Table 2. Cities in Other States with Balloon Ordinances Suffolk County, NY Banned the release of all lighter than air balloons.
Provincetown, MA Banned the sale, use and release of all lighter than air balloons.
Nantucket, MA Banned the sale, use and release of all lighter than air balloons.
New Shoreham, RI Banned the sale, use and release of all lighter than air balloons.
*Attachment 4 contains the Ordinances referenced above.
The proposed Ordinance before City Council is similar to the City of Glendale’s Ordinance which restricts the sale and distribution of mylar balloons whether or not inflated with helium or gas which is lighter than air.
To address concerns from local businesses, the Ordinance has one ex ception to sell or distribute mylar balloons filled with air only and
securely affixed or mounted to a post or
other decorative structure at the point of sale. Additionally, since the Ordinance is limited to metallic balloons made of electrically conductive materials, businesses have the alternative to use latex balloons , or other non- electrically conductive balloons, for sale and distribution to customers. If passed , the Ordinance would become effective at 12:01am on the thirty-first day following the date of adoption.
Should the Council vote to pass the ordinance, BWP ’s Account Managers will provide direct notifications to key accounts. Additionally, BWP staff will send notifications through targeted emails, Currents newsletter, social media posts , and BWP ’s website to the 4 community and local businesses to ensure a thorough understanding of the new ordinance and rules as they apply to businesses.
FISCAL IMPACT
Should the City Council adopt the proposed ordinance prohibiting the sale of mylar balloons, there will be various costs associated with implementing and enforcing the ordinance.
Additional costs incurred include staff time from both BWP and the Community Development Department to educate and notify the public and affected businesses of the new ordinance. Staff estimates costs of up to $25,000 associated with creating and distributing educational and marketing materials, as well as notifications. Enforcing the ordinance would create additional workload for City code enforcement to resp ond to potential violations and issue citations to businesses who are failing to comply with the new ordinance. The fines associated with ordinance violations can be found in Article 1, Chapter 1 of Title 1 in the Burbank Municipal Code.
On the other hand, an ordinance that prohibits the sale of mylar balloons filled with helium requiring that the balloons be attached to a decorative post or structure at the time of sale, may have a positive financial impact on the City. Regulating the sale of m ylar balloons may decrease the potential for m ylar balloons to come into contact with power lines, mitigating the risk of safety hazards and interruptions to electric service. This would save staff time and would also mitigate additional stress to the electric system, further enhancing reliability.
CONCLUSION
To continue providing reliable electric service to the Burbank community and to mitigate the risks associated with mylar balloons, staff recommends that the City Council consider adopting an ordinance prohibiting the sale of m ylar balloons as described in Attachment
1. ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Ordinance Prohibiting the Sale of Metallic or Mylar Balloons Attachment 2 – Staff Report Regarding Efforts to Mitigate Power Outages Caused by Mylar Balloons dated January 12, 2021
Attachment 3 – Staff Report Regarding the Introduction of Mylar Balloon Ordinance October 12, 2021
Attachment 4 – Municipal Code or Articles of Cities with Balloon Ordinances