City attorney says smoke-free parks proposal is legal
Some say it’s now merely a faux-paus to publicly light up in Santa Monica. It may soon get worse.
Hoping to protect children from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, the city is moving forward with a plan to ban cigarette smoking entirely in all of its 15 parks.
The Recreation and Parks Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to recommend the city council ban smoking from “curb to curb” in every public park, including the forthcoming Airport Park. The city council is the only municipal body with the power to enact new ordinances.
Committee member Neil Carrey said the vote was intended to send a strong message to the city council on the importance of the issue.
“I don’t know how anyone could defend what the city council and the city itself stands for and then not support this,” he said. “If you are going to have a sustainable city it makes sense to help sustain the people living in it.”
The committee’s chair, Frank Schwengel, at one point during the meeting asked that Palisades Park be spared from the ban because many of the city’s European tourists smoke there. He was also worried the proposal to ban smoking may interfere with the city’s tourist-friendly image.
“I think we need to ask ourselves if this will hamper tourism,” he said.
But Carrey convinced Schwengel that tourists wouldn’t avoid Santa Monica if its only sin was preventing them from lighting up while enjoying the park’s ocean views.
“When we banned smoking in bars and restaurants everybody said no one will come to Santa Monica, but they did,” he said. “The same will happen when we ban smoking in parks. They’ll still come.”
City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said creating smoke-free zones in the city’s parks would uphold the city’s tradition of limiting smoking zones. The city’s Consumer Protection Bureau runs stings in local restaurants and bars to enforce the state’s current non-smoking laws.
“I have no reason to believe it would be illegal” to ban smoking,” Moutrie said. “The time is right to consider other spaces where we don’t want smoking.”
“I have no reason to believe it would be illegal. The time is right to consider other spaces where we don’t want smoking.” — — MARSHA MOUTRIE Santa Monica City Attorney
The practice of banning smoking in public areas has become something of a rage in recent years. Already, smoking has been banned in office buildings, commercial airplanes, and in California, at restaurants and bars.
And the state has enacted legislation that took effect in January which forbids smoking in playgrounds. The law also allows municipalities to extend smoke-free zones to entire parks or just certain areas.
Public officials worry about the effects of second-hand cigarette smoke on children playing nearby. A recent study suggests second-hand smoke contains far more chemicals that are suspected carcinogens than previously believed.
Two years ago, Beverly Hills banned smoking in its parks entirely. And the Los Angeles City Council is currently considering legislation that would ban smoking within 25 feet of children at play. The Los Angeles ordinance would even forbid smoking at dog runs, public swimming pools and golf courses.
Both cities were convinced of the ban by the Committee for Smoke-free Zones, which broached the issue with Santa Monica’s Recreation and Parks Committee. The organization is currently working with 10 other municipalities in Southern California on creating bans in their cities as well.
Robert Berger, a Smoke-free Committee member, said recent polls taken by the committee show that while below 20 percent of the state smokes, 93 percent of the population agrees with more restrictive smoking prohibitions.
“Even the people that smoke tell us they would agree to more restrictions,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 22, 2002. Read the original PDF.