City of Powell River bylaws regulate smoking in recreation areas but Mayor Dave Formosa does not want enforcement to be so restrictive that it calls for a complete ban.
Ray Boogaards, director of parks, recreation and culture, outlined smoking regulations to council’s committee of the whole meeting, Tuesday, July 14. Speaking to the committee, Boogaards said the city has a smoking bylaw from 2009 and playgrounds and playing fields are non-smoking areas. Right now, the city does not have any kind of signage identifying those as non-smoking areas, he said. According to the bylaw, smoking is not permitted any closer than six feet from the perimeter of the playing field, playground or schoolyard.
Boogaards has conducted inspections of some of the playground areas and people are smoking and butting out inside of the playground structures. What he is suggesting is the city proceeding with putting up proper signage in the playground areas.
Councillor Karen Skadsheim asked if the bylaw also applied to trails in the city. Boogaards said trails are not currently identified in the bylaw.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway, committee chair, said Skadsheim brought up a good point. For example, at the top of Penticton Street, leading into the trail, it would be a good idea to have a sign posted indicating that it is a designated no-smoking area, she said. Skadsheim said the same should go for Millennium Park.
Councillor Russell Brewer said the city may have to be a little cautious in what it designates non-smoking areas but he thinks the city should have the means to impose no smoking under certain conditions. Boogaards said most local governments in BC are moving toward no smoking on their properties.
“It’s the same thing as being in a recreational building,” he said. “We don’t want to encourage people to smoke in those areas. A lot of municipalities and regional districts are going that way completely.”
Boogaards said the city is working with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) to push for this with proper wording and different signage that VCH have used. The city does have the signage requirements in its bylaw.
Skadsheim asked if the bylaw was up for review and Marie Claxton, city clerk, said the city will be going into an overall bylaw review in the new year.
Claxton added that in the city’s fire prevention bylaw, there is provision for the fire chief, by written order, to declare forest or woodland areas closed.
Mac Fraser, chief administrative officer, said the city can post signs that encourage positive behaviour but it can’t be expected that bylaw control officers will write tickets at the trailhead. “It’s the behaviour that you want to modify, it’s not the ticket that you want to write.”
Brewer said it was smart to be proactive and to bring back a recommendation to amend the bylaw to include no smoking and no motorized vehicles in city parks.
Formosa said he was under the impression that given the current extreme heat issues, the city has the ability through the fire department to post a sign on the Willingdon Beach Trail saying no smoking. Formosa said he doesn’t smoke or understand why people do it, but he is opposed to telling people they can’t have a cigarette while they are sitting at the beach. He does not want the city to become a police state.
“Now we are saying you can’t be sitting on the beach, looking at the sunset, and you can’t smoke,” he clarified. “I am a little concerned. Are we just going to go into something and over-police ourselves?”
Formosa said he gets the need for no flammable materials during this tinder-dry weather, but called for discretion.
Fraser said the real issue in this discussion was fire hazard. If council chose to refer the matter to a council meeting in August, staff will be ready for a well-rounded discussion. He said Brewer was talking about immediacy, with this being a long, dry summer. However, there is no need to shut down smoking on a rainy day in December. The original intent in Boogaards’ presentation was to not have second-hand smoke in playgrounds. It was not a fire prevention intention.
Dan Ouellette, director of fire and emergency services, said in terms of people walking local trails with smoking materials, the city is dealing with the community wildfire protection plan that has some provisions to look after some of the concerns.
Smoking Regulation Bylaw 2232 is available at the city’s website www.powellriver.ca.
