The Kirkland City Council has restarted discussion on a potential ban on plastic bags and directed city staff to begin preparing an ordinance on the subject.

The ordinance, proposed at the council’s Oct. 7 meeting, would ban single-use plastic grocery bags and mandate stores charge five cents each for paper grocery bags.

The idea of a plastic bag ban has proved contentious in the past. John MacGillivray, the Solid Waste Program’s lead with Public Works, stated that before an ordinance can be written, however, the council has to make decisions on important details, such as when the ordinance would take effect, and whether or not they want different compliance deadlines for big and small businesses, as well as any exemptions such as fish bags, take-out bags, dog waste bags and clothing store bags.

In 2013, the council directed MacGillivray and staff to complete a study on whether Kirkland should or should not be a candidate for taking action on either banning or charging for plastic bags. A phone survey later that year showed 69 percent of 407 residents polled opposed the ban of plastic shopping bags, while 90 percent favored encouraging citizens to voluntarily reduce their bag use instead. Of the 67 percent who opposed charging a fee for plastic bags, 67 percent also said they’d be willing to pay something, while 33 percent said they would not pay anything, an option not offered in the questionnaire.

Residents supported measures aimed at stores for reducing plastic bag pollution – 85 percent thought stores should be required to have plastic bag recycling bins.

Among cities with plastic bag bans in King County include Seattle, Mercer Island and Issaquah.

PCC Natural Market in the Everest neighborhood is one of the only stores in the city to voluntarily ban plastic bags for use in its store.

“Even though paper bags cost three to four times more, we thought we could take the hit,” PCC Natural Markets spokeswoman Diana Chapman told the Reporter in 2013. “As soon as we announced it, one by one, jurisdictions followed. We would love for Kirkland to jump on the bandwagon. It isn’t just a lifestyle, if you legislate it, people will follow.”