[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of West Springfield 6-1-2020 Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the general police power in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of West Springfield.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DISPOSABLE FOOD CONTAINERS
Food containers or service ware, including, but not limited to, plates, bowls, trays, wrappers or wrapping, platters, cartons, clamshells, condiment containers, cups, drinkware or any other container in or on which prepared foods are placed or packaged for consumption, selling, providing, or serving food that are intended by the manufacturer to be used once for eating or drinking or generally recognized by the public as items to be discarded after one use.
FOOD ESTABLISHMENT
Any restaurant, food operation, public or private, or any other place, other than a private residence, where food and drink are prepared or served, with or without charge for consumption on or off the premises, including any catering establishment or any eating place, whether fixed or mobile, restaurant, bar, cafe, cafeteria, public or private school, hospital, private club, coffee shop, sandwich stand, or any other type of food service operation.
POLYSTYRENE FOAM
Blown polystyrene and expanded or extruded foams (also known by the trademarked name Styrofoam), which are thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer and processed by any number of techniques, including, but not limited to, fusion of polymer spheres (expandable bead polystyrene), injectable molding, foam, molding and extrusion-blown molding (extruded foam polystyrene).
No food establishment located and doing business within the Town of West Springfield shall sell or convey food or beverage directly to consumers within the Town of West Springfield if such food and/or beverage is placed, packaged, or wrapped in disposable food containers made from polystyrene foam.
A. 
The Board of Health and its agents shall have primary responsibility for enforcement of this provision and shall have authority to issue citations for violation(s).
B. 
Violations of this chapter shall be enforceable under the noncriminal disposition procedures established by MGL c. 40, § 21D, and adopted set forth in Chapter 1, Article II, of these ordinances. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense. The noncriminal disposition penalties for any person violating this chapter shall be no more than:
(1) 
A written warning for the first violation;
(2) 
Fifty dollars for the second violation;
(3) 
One hundred dollars for the third violation; and
(4) 
Two hundred dollars for each subsequent violation.
C. 
No more than one penalty may be imposed upon a food establishment within a seven-day calendar period.
A. 
All of the requirements set forth in this chapter shall take effect within two years of passage. (Note: This chapter was passed by the Town Council on June 1, 2020. As such, it will take effect June 1, 2022.)
B. 
In the event that compliance with the effective date of this chapter is not feasible for a food establishment because of significant economic hardship, the Board of Health or its agent may grant a waiver of not more than one year upon application of the food establishment's owner or the owner's authorized agent.
(1) 
A deferment granted upon the terms herein described may be extended no more than one additional one-year period, and upon a showing that the circumstances justifying the deferment continue to exist.
(2) 
Such deferment request shall include factual information supporting the claimed signification economic hardship to permit the Board of Health or its agent to determine such facts regarding the deferment application.
(3) 
Deferment decisions are effective immediately and final.
It is the intention of this chapter that each separate provision of this chapter shall be deemed independent of all other provisions herein, and it is further the intention that if any provision of this chapter be declared to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of this chapter shall remain valid and enforceable.