LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The City of Las Vegas has passed an ordinance banning the outdoor release of mylar balloons during Wednesday’s council meeting.
The ordinance was first introduced in mid-May after a mylar balloon caused a power outage that affected 12,000 valley residents. The bill’s sponsor tells FOX5 that the outage was a sign that more laws are needed around balloon releases.
“You may think you’re having fun celebrating a graduation or a gender reveal, you release these balloons, and the next thing you know, you’re without power,” Councilor Nancy Brune said.
On Wednesday, the ordinance passed in a 4-3 vote after a spirited debate among the council members.
Similar to other ordinances urging pet owners to pick up after their dogs, council members expressed concerns about the difficulty of enforcing the ordinance. While each member agreed that fines could potentially deter future releases, some council members expressed that the city needed to consider other options.
An amendment added by Councilwoman Brune revised the ordinance to only trigger a fine on the second offense.
In addition, Brune tells FOX5 that a public information campaign is incoming to help people better understand the ordinance.
So far, Brune says there have been 400 outages caused by mylar balloons in the last four years in Las Vegas.
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