SANTA ANA, CA (May 22, 2013) - At the direction of Mayor Pulido and Councilman Benavides, city staff was directed to bring forward a resolution opposing South Coast Air Quality Management District’s proposed universal ban on beach fire rings in Orange County. The purpose of this action is to mitigate the public exposure to potentially high concentrations of wood smoke at Orange and Los Angeles county beaches.
There are over 700 fire rings located throughout Orange County beaches and it is estimated that visitors to the beaches generate millions of dollars in annual revenue to beach cities through parking fees, sales tax from local shopping, and transient occupancy tax, which indirectly benefits all Orange County cities through a strengthened regional economy.
Mayor Pulido stated, “I think this is important for Santa Ana because the fire rings are an important regional amenity. I believe we all need to have access to the beach for recreation in the southern California region. I believe if enough people speak up we can find a better approach to stop this.”
“This is a regional issue that is not specific to a few properties. Many of us have stories about going out to enjoy the bonfires with our families and we should be able to continue to enjoy them for generations to come,” stated Councilman Benavides.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, Council members unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the SCAQMD’s proposed amended Rule 444 prohibiting open burning on beaches. The resolution includes language that supports providing local jurisdictions with greater flexibility in solely determining whether or not to retain or remove its fire rings based on local community interests.
For details about the resolution, please visit: http://www.santa-ana.org/coc/documents/cc_agenda_20110520.pdf
###
