WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.— This is a small city, a mere 1.9 square miles, with about 36,000 residents. But lawmakers here nonetheless see themselves as national trendsetters.

Early Tuesday morning, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that would ban the sale of fur apparel — the first such ban in the nation, city officials believe. A final vote will take place in October before the measure becomes law.

The ordinance is only the latest in an ever-growing list of eye-popping, often symbolic measures that legislators here have passed in hopes of pushing animal rights and other causes onto the national stage. The city was among the first to ban cat declawing, sales of inexpensive handguns sometimes known as Saturday Night Specials, and the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores (though, by that time, no pet stores in the city sold so-called companion animals).

“This is a tiny city, so it’s mostly symbolic,” said Councilman John D’Amico, who sponsored the fur ban. “I think the impact will be heard from here to Fifth Avenue. People will talk about what a fur ban means in a new way.”