The Foster City Council is moving toward limiting smoking in public places and will consider tonight whether to endorse a resolution that identifies the city’s 21 parks as smoke-free.
The council launched a smoke-free community initiative in March by endorsing a resolution that called for smoke-free events at the city’s parks.
The City Council policy calendar has identified smoke-free parks as the next phase in the movement toward the evaluation of prohibiting smoking in public spaces in Foster City by ordinance, according to a staff report prepared by Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Miller.
Smoke-free parks is a goal the Parks and Recreation Committee has set for 2010.
In the long-term, the goal is to related to recommend the City Council consider changing the ordinance to prohibit smoking in all city parks.
According to Miller’s report, decreasing smoking in the Foster City park system will also decrease the amount of cigarette butts which are hazardous to children, animals the environment and positively affect the cleanliness of community parks.
Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter and cleanup is costly and cigarette butts often end up in storm drains that flow into streams, rivers, bays, lagoons and eventually the ocean, according to the staff report.
Enforcing smoke-free parks, however, will not likely fall onto the police department but rather through public education and voluntary cooperation.
It will be the personal responsibility of each park user to comply with the guidelines.
"Given the overwhelming evidence of adverse health effects from secondhand smoke, it is important to the many non-smokers in our city that they be able to enjoy our beautiful parks without the fear of being exposed to these potential harms. I am therefore strongly in favor of eliminating smoking from Foster City parks,” said Councilman Charles Bronitsky.
In the past four years, more than 90 cities and/or counties have adopted ordinances making local parks smoke-free, according to California’s Clean Air Project. Only about 14 percent of Californians smoke, according to CCAP.
"I think a smoke-free park is a significant breakthrough to preserving our open space areas for recreational purposes. It is important that we increase our understanding of our environment so we can enjoy it and provide a welcome retreat for our families,” said Vice Mayor Linda Koelling.
The Foster City Council meets at 7 p.m., tonight, City Hall, 610 Foster City Blvd., Foster City.
Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Woodside Musical Theatre proudly presents Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert — the company’s … Read moreJESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR in Concert
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
John Baker said:
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.