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At the June 3 meeting of its Town Council, Kitty Hawk became the fourth Dare County municipality to approve a ban on releasing balloons within its borders in the past two months. After a brief discussion of the Council, the measure passed on a unanimous voice vote.
The ordinance states that it is illegal “to intentionally release any inflated balloon within town limits” and carries a civil penalty of $250 for violators. Since April 3, when Duck became the first municipality in the county to approve a ban on releasing balloons, Southern Shores, Nags Head and now Kitty Hawk have followed suit.
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According to Debbie Swick, who has been the driving advocate and catalyst behind the movement to ban balloon releases, the Kill Devil Hills Commissioners are expected to vote on a similar ordinance at their June 10 meeting. Swick plans on making her presentation urging a balloon release ban to the Manteo Board of Commissioners at their July meeting.
And at their June 3 meeting, the Dare County Board of Commissioners scheduled a July 15 public hearing on a balloon release ban measure that would apply to the unincorporated areas of the county.
Asked about her reaction to the swift sequence of bans adopted in the past two months, Swick told the Voice that “it is beyond overwhelming, and I have to say the credit goes to the residents,” and she added, local officials.
She believes the drive to stop the release of balloons—which advocates point out does significant harm to wildlife and the environment—is a sentiment that “this has to stop. These are our beaches. This is our wildlife…This is kinship with our ocean…Putting a law on the books is only as good as the education behind it.”
Asked about the criticism of the bans that most frequently surfaces—that these new regulations are an “enforcement nightmare,” Swick says she believes they will function as a deterrent. “Kudos to the towns,” she added, citing the $250 fines that have been widely enacted. And she asserted that people are out there watching, or as she puts it, “there are so many balloon warriors up and down the coast.”
