SOLANA BEACH, CA - The Solana Beach City Council was scheduled to vote on a measure last night to ban single-use plastic shopping bags at most retail stores and restaurants, UT-San Diego reports.

If passed, the bill would become law within three months and require stores to charge at least 10 cents for each paper bag.

Violators of the ban would incur a penalty of up to $1,000, though it is unclear how the city intends to enforce the measure, according to the City Council??s agenda report.

"Its time has come," said Mayor Joe Kellejian of the ordinance when it was first proposed last year. "We??re in a healthy, environmentally responsive community, and we want to keep it that way."

The American Chemistry Council, which supports plastic bag manufacturers, sent a letter to Solana Beach last year opposing the ban, urging members to pursue recycling instead of a ban.

Solana Beach was the first city in the country to ban smoking on beaches, and it banned smoking in restaurants, hotels and offices in 1992.