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# Smokers could be snuffed at Santa Monica Pier
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smokers-could-be-snuffed-at-santa-monica-pier/
- Published: 2004-02-05T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:44:02.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Downtown, #archive-import

*It’s getting harder to light up in Santa Monica*

*By Daily Press staff*

DOWNTOWN — Smoking cigarettes could soon be a criminal act beyond just the parks, in front of public buildings and the beach in Santa Monica. Now smokers could be targeted at the pier as well.

Concerned individuals and organizations were expected to address the Pier Restoration Corp. board on Wednesday night, advocating for a smoke-free Santa Monica Pier.

Last fall, the Santa Monica City Council directed city staff to draft an ordinance banning smoking on public beaches and the Santa Monica Pier. The City Council is now looking to the PRC, in its role of managing and preserving the pier, for its position on the pending law.

Community activists say the pier is one of the few remaining piers without a policy restricting smoking. To back up their positions, they claim the following: ■A May 2003 report by Santa Monica Pier staff reported 450 fires on the wooden pier in a single year, with 15 characterized as “substantial.” There are currently more than 125 burn holes on the pier caused by smoldering cigarettes. Seal Beach and Santa Barbara both passed smoking policies on their wooden piers in response to smoking-related fires. The Venice Pier also is smoke-free. ■The pier attracts 3 million visitors a year, many of them families with young children. The vast majority do not smoke, yet are subjected to toxic secondhand smoke on the often crowded pier. ■Cigarette butts that aren’t discarded onto the pier usually get thrown over the side of it, directly into Santa Monica Bay or onto the beach. Cigarettes are the No. 1 source of beach trash and threatens wildlife who mistake the toxic butts for food. ■Several environmental and health organizations support a smoke-free Santa Monica Pier, including the local chapters of the Surfrider Foundation, Environment Now, the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association.

The pier would be just one of many places smokers wouldn’t be able to light up in Santa Monica.

A California law went into effect on Jan. 1 that prohibits smoking within 20 feet of any public building, including universities and community colleges.

AB 846, signed into law by former Gov. Gray Davis last year, specifically prohibits smoking within 20 feet of main entrances, exits and windows of any building owned, leased or occupied by the state, county or city.

The state law compliments Santa Monica’s anti-smoking stance. The Santa Monica City Council last March voted to ban smoking in its 15 parks because of health risks associated with second-hand smoke and the likelihood that children could ingest discarded cigarette butts.

Violators could end paying as much as $750 after court fees and penalties. Enforcement is done by random, periodic checks in the parks by the city attorney office’s consumer protection unit and the Santa Monica Police Department.

As far as the statewide law is concerned, it’s anticipated that clear signage and placing ash cans at least 20 feet from affected entrances, exits and windows will make the law virtually self-enforcing.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/020504-03_01.jpg)

A man lights up a cigarette at the Santa Monica Pier Wednesday afternoon. (Photo: John Wood/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 5, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/020504.pdf?ref=smdp.com)