The Hermosa Beach City Council rejected for now a ban on Styrofoam food-to-go containers, honored a fallen warrior, and agreed to consider a zoning change to accommodate the Static Beach radio operation that has moved from Manhattan Beach to a Pier Avenue office.
Council members also praised Marlin Equity for seeking LEED environmental certification for an interior rebuilding of its new building on Pier Avenue – the first LEED attempt for a Hermosa office structure – and continued studying possible fee increases and how to select the city’s next trash hauler.
A ban on Styrofoam and other polystyrene to-go containers was recommended by the city’s Green Task Force. Some council members said the ban plan was premature, might prove ineffective, and was pitched by proponents using some misleading information. A council majority agreed to inform restaurants about polystyrene drawbacks and possible alternative materials that could be used.
The lone dissenter was Councilman Jeff Duclos, who supported a ban. He pointed to polystyrene bits found on beaches and in the ocean, and complained that the food-smeared containers are rarely recycled. Duclos pointed to other cities that have banned polystyrene, and he said the McDonald’s fast food company stopped using it in 1990.
Representatives of environmental groups Heal the Bay and Surfrider Foundation showed up to support a ban, and a polystyrene industry representative spoke against it, saying alternative materials don’t hold up as well as polystyrene, and they come with their own drawbacks as well.
In an email, restaurateur Rick Hankus told the council that he previously banned Styrofoam at his iconic Java Man coffeehouse and Ocean Diner, but patrons complained that containers made of the “green” alternatives leaked and collapsed.
The council honored a U.S. Air Force Academy buddy of Councilman Kit Bobko, Lt. Col. Frank “Bruiser” Bryant, who was killed in Afghanistan last month, to be survived by a wife and young son. His voice choked with emotion, Bobko told the council of his fallen friend, and urged donations for the young boy’s college fund, which can be made through airwarriorcourage.org. ER
