Law will take effect in less than a month
COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Smokers have 28 days to quit smoking at local beaches and on the Santa Monica Pier.
The City Council on Tuesday voted 5-2 in support of the ban at its final reading, setting it up to become law May 27. For the first 90 days of the law being enacted, police officers will first warn offenders. If they are caught again, offenders will be given a $250 ticket.
Once fines, penalties and other court costs are totaled, violators can expect to be out of pocket $750 or more, prosecutors said.
To appease concerned merchants, council members agreed to set aside designated smoking areas on the pier. The quantity, size and location of those areas have yet to be decided, but officials on Tuesday said they were willing to consider portions of outdoor eating areas and private parties on the pier.
Several council members said they would like to have the designated smoking areas be treated with a special fire-resistant coating. One of the key reasons for the smoking ban on the pier is the potential fire hazard posed by cigarette butts. The health risks of second-hand smoke and litter were the other top concerns.
Smoking was outlawed by the City Council in all Santa Monica parks last year. In January, a statewide law went into effect that made it illegal to smoke 20 feet from any government building.
Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of the Pier Restoration Corp., the nonprofit organization that manages the pier, said this week he recommended eight areas be set aside, as well as a portion of each outdoor dining area. City Councilman Ken Genser indicated he most likely will push to reduce the number of designated areas.
City Councilman Mike Feinstein, who voted against the ban, lambasted the Daily Press from the dais for an April 16 article that stated he was “interested” in banning smoking in outdoor eating areas. Feinstein had told his colleagues at an ear-lier meeting that people in outdoor seating areas were held captive by smokers.
On Tuesday, he accused the Daily Press of intentionally making it sound as if he was spearheading a campaign against smoking in outdoor dining areas.
“For one local tabloid which seems to thrive on selling advertising by misrepresenting what people say up here, it had quoted me as saying that … I was the one who had wanted to ban it in outdoor seating, in restaurants,” Feinstein said. “I think it’s unfortunate that the local press chooses to misrepresent those kind of statements in order to sell newspapers.”
Feinstein later said he thought it was natural to ban smoking in outdoor eating areas before banning it on the beach and pier, but explained he was not specifically advocating it. Asked whether he was for or against banning smoking in outside dining areas, Feinstein declined to take a stand on either side of the issue.
It’s unclear how difficult it will be to enforce the new law, especially because many of the visitors to the beaches and pier are tourists who will need to be constantly educated about the city’s law. Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky, who helped draft the smoking legislation, said a recent undercover survey of 10 Santa Monica parks revealed that only two people were violating the law.
“And that includes Palisades Park,” he said. “Our information is that the compliance is very good and it seems to be mostly self-enforcing.”
Along with a decision last week by the Los Angeles City Council to ban smoking on the four beaches in the city of LA — Cabrillo Dockweiler, Will Rogers and Venice — 13 miles of local beaches will soon be smoke-free.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 29, 2004. Read the original PDF.