ENCINITAS -- With Councilman James Bond casting a pivotal third vote, the Encinitas City Council directed staffers Wednesday to draft an ordinance that would phase in a ban on the use of all point-of-purchase single-use plastic shopping bags within the city.

Councilmen Dan Dalager and Mayor Jerome Stocks voted against the motion while Councilwomen Teresa Barth and Maggie Houlihan, who have both been outspoken advocates of a plastic bag ban, supported it.

Under the proposal presented to the council Wednesday night by Alek Cannon, chairman of the newly formed Environmental Advisory Committee, businesses initially could choose to impose a fee on plastic bags, the proceeds of which would go toward public education. A fee would also be levied on paper bags to discourage customers from switching to paper.

Cannon presented three possible options to the council. Option 1, which was adopted by council, provides for a phased-in ban, a fee on paper bags and a self-charge to fund educational programs.

Option 2 was the most strict and provided for an outright plastic bag ban with a fee on paper bags. Option 3 was the least restrictive, providing for the improvement of existing plastic bag reduction and recycling efforts.

Bond said he supported the plan so long as the outlined reductions and deadlines were reasonable.

"This has been a very interesting night," he said. "I came here tonight thinking I would go with Option 3, but I will vote for Option 1 if you can assure me that it can be done slowly without trampling on people's existing culture."

Barth equated the ban on plastic bags to prohibitions against smoking in public places and along beaches.

"What we are confronted with now is much like what we were talking about with smoking 30 to 40 years ago," she said. "There were people who said then that they had a right to smoke, but you don't have a right to damage another's health."

Fifteen of 17 public speakers Wednesday night urged the council to support a ban on plastic bags within the city. Only two, spokeswomen from the American Chemistry Council which represents the plastic bag industry and another from the California Restaurant Association, spoke against the measure, saying that while goal of reduction and recycling were laudable, a outright ban was simply too restrictive.

Mayor Stocks seemed to agree.

"I am willing to talk about education and combining with Solana Beach (which recently began a voluntary recycling program with the company Trex which makes decking from recycled plastics) but I believe a ban could equally trigger a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit," Stocks said. "I think we should begin with baby steps, such as outreach and education."

Cardiff attorney Elizabeth Taylor, who was appointed to the Environmental Advisory Committee earlier in the evening, said that as a coastal community, Encinitas had a particular responsibility to reduce its use of plastic bags.

"I think there is overwhelming support for this not only among the citizens but among businesses as well," she said. "After all, it is a way for them to lower their costs."

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or at rwebster@nctimes.com.