Yay or nay to a plastic bag ban? Here’s your chance to comment on whether to have one in Beaufort County

After months of back and forth on a Beaufort County plastic bag ban, officials are calling for all residents to come out and voice their opinions.

The Beaufort County Natural Resources Committee will hold two public comment sessions about the potential ban in the upcoming weeks to hear from constituents.

The first session will take place after the completion of the 5 p.m. County Council meeting on Monday at the Bluffton Library.

The second session will be at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 at the Council Chambers in Beaufort.

At the last few meetings where the ban was discussed, all of the residents in the audience spoke in support of the ban.

The Greater Bluffton Republican Club, however, came out against the ban last month.

During a Council Council meeting in late August, council members voted to send the plastic bag ordinance back to the Natural Resources Committee, where it was passed less than a week prior.

Council members said they hoped this move would allow the committee to include input from each municipality in the county, as well as constituents on both sides of the table.

According to a Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce survey from July, 71 percent of respondents said they believed plastic bags should be banned on Hilton Head.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Yay or nay to a plastic bag ban? Here’s your chance to comment on whether to have one in Beaufort County."