> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bureaucrats snub smoking on beach, pier - URL: https://www.smdp.com/bureaucrats-snub-smoking-on-beach-pier/ - Published: 2004-03-25T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T04:03:45.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Environment, Pier, #archive-import *SM is third city to ban smoking on its beaches* Lighting up anywhere near the ocean in Santa Monica soon will be a crime. Members of the City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday night to ban smoking on the beach and to limit it to designated areas of the Santa Monica Pier. Violators can be fined $750. The contentious vote followed a public hearing that attracted dozens of speakers on all sides of the issue. Debi Austin, who breathes through a hole in her throat, said her mission is to abolish smoking throughout California. The raspy-voiced Austin appeared winded as she spoke, pausing for breath after every two or three words. “We do not ask you to pass ordinances to punish smokers,” said Austin, who held a finger over the hole in her throat as she addressed the council. “We ask you to protect people from us. As smokers, we are predators. We steal your personal space. We steal the breath of your children and we abuse them with toxic fallout from our cigarettes. 3C2,“You have the opportunity to protect the children of Santa Monica,” she added. “Please, step forward.” While Austin and dozens of other speakers pushed for an outright ban on smoking, local merchants and pier officials asked that designated areas be set aside for smokers. Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of the Pier Restoration Corp., a city-subsidized nonprofit organization that runs the Santa Monica Pier, said 3.5 million people visit the pier each year. He added that while only 16 percent of Californians smoke, 30 percent to 40 percent of foreign tourists light up. “We need to provide a viable option for those who do smoke that does not require them to leave the pier entirely,” said Franz-Knight, whose comments were echoed by other members of the PRC and some pier business owners. Still others argued that banning smoking is a violation of their civil liberties. Though that argument ultimately failed, it was supported by two council members. 346,“I think we’re over stretching and I’m concerned about not having a nexus, and enforcing what my morality might be — and I’m somebody who really does choke on this stuff,” said City Councilman Mike Feinstein, adding he would rather support banning smoking in outdoor dining areas, where people can’t easily escape second-hand smoke. “I’m not supportive of trying to ban it on the beaches and I also think it’s really bizarre to have little cubicles on the pier where you can go smoke when it’s a big, windy space...,” he added. “It doesn’t feel like clean, honest government.” > “It doesn’t feel like clean, honest government.” — — MIKE FEINSTEIN Santa Monica City Councilman In the end, the council banned smoking, with the size and location of at least one designated smoking area to be determined at a later date. Feinstein and City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor voted against the ban, and City Councilman Bob Holbrook was not present. Under the new law, smoking also will be prohibited in public waiting areas, the most notable example being bus stops. The push for the ban was led by City Councilman Kevin McKeown and Mayor Richard Bloom, who reluctantly agreed to allow designated smoking areas on the pier, after saying they thought it was the wrong direction for the city to go. “Smoking is not family oriented,” Bloom said. “Smoking is death oriented. That’s the fact about smoking.” > “Smoking is death oriented. That’s the fact about smoking.” — 16 percent of Californians smoke, 30 percent to 40 percent of foreign tourists light up. — RICHARD BLOOM Santa Monica Mayor Santa Monica — which last year banned smoking in its parks — is now the third city in California to ban smoking on its beaches, behind Solana Beach and San Clemente. But officials said other cities are considering it. Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss, who addressed the council Tuesday, said his drive to ban smoking on all beaches in LA will go before the LA City Council on April 6\. Weiss said he’s looking forward to the “historic” time when all 13 miles of beaches in LA County are smokeless. “They said it couldn’t be done with restaurants. They said it couldn’t be done with bars,” Weiss said. “We started that in Southern California and it spread throughout the nation.” Mike Feinstein *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 25, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032504.pdf?ref=smdp.com)