Stop Smoking Way

Puffing a cigarette at a park is already illegal in Belmont and unincorporated San Mateo County but the habit could soon earn you a ticket in Redwood City, too.

The city’s parks and recreation commission will consider on Wednesday recommending that the city make all of its 32 parks smoke-free.

City officials say smoking is already banned in parts of some parks because of laws that prohibit smoking within 20 feet of parks facilities or rest rooms and within 25 feet of any play area or sports field.

A law covering all parks would give police officers the authority to restrict smoking across the board, said Parks Superintendent Gary Hover.

Hover said residents have complained about other people smoking at several city events in parks.

“It can be really offensive if you don’t smoke,” he said. “There was really no instrument that could be used to say, ‘You gotta stop that right now.’”

If the parks commission approves the new ordinance, the city council would get final say on whether to make it law. The ordinance reads: “No person shall, within any City park: Smoke, light or carry a lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette or other smoking device of any kind. ‘No Smoking’ signs shall be posted in every City park.”

Hover said police would respond to resident complaints under the ordinance and would not patrol parks in search of smokers.

An informal online city survey showed 86 percent of the 300 respondents were in favor of the ordinance.

Hover said protecting families and children from second-hand smoke is a major reason for the proposed ordinance.

“I think kids are pretty much at the heart of most of what we do,” he said.

Other cities in San Mateo County have banned smoking in parks. Pacifica passed a law in 2006 prohibiting smoking on beaches and San Mateo County supervisors banned smoking from county parks, trails and beaches in 2007.

The most stringent anti-smoking law in the area — some say in the entire nation — is an ordinance passed by Belmont last November.

Belmont’s ordinance bans smoking in parks and several other locations, including workplaces; public gathering places such as parking lots or plazas; “service areas” like bus stops or ATM lines; recreation trails; and within 20 feet of anywhere smoking is prohibited.

Since it went into effect last November, though, the city has not given out a single citation, which can cost a violator $100 for a first offense, said Valerie Harnish, chairwoman of the city’s smoking ordinance committee.

She said about 15 residents have complained about violations, but so far police officers or code enforcement officers have only issued warnings.

“We’ve tried to do the educational process rather than coming down hard,” she said. The most controversial part of the Belmont ordinance — a ban on smoking inside a multi-family dwelling that shares a floor or ceiling with another dwelling — goes into effect Jan. 9, 2009.

Other Peninsula cities — Palo Alto, Menlo Park, San Carlos, San Mateo and South San Francisco — have bans on smoking in outdoor dining areas, though not necessarily in parks, according to a database maintained by the California Clean Air Project, an anti-smoking advocacy group.

The Redwood City Parks and Recreation Commission will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Activities Building, 1400 Roosevelt Ave.

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Tags: Smoking