The news paper has moved the article to a different URL so here is the full article:
City to snuff out smoking in parks
New rules will go into effect as signs are posted at locations
JIM GAINES, The Daily News,
[email protected]
Published: May 4, 2008
Over the course of this spring and summer, cigarettes will go out in Bowling Green city parks.
City Manager Kevin DeFebbo has issued a policy to eliminate smoking in almost all locations of the city�s park system. It will go into effect at individual parks, said Parks & Recreation Director Ernie Gouvas, as soon as signs announcing the change can be posted.
That will take awhile, but sooner or later most parks will only allow smoking in parking lots. DeFebbo said he still wanted to allow some space for smokers.
Smoking will still be permitted on the city�s three golf courses and in Fairview Cemetery, he said. Fountain Square will be smoke-free except for private rentals. There will be one designated smoking area in new Circus Square Park, to be chosen by the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, DeFebbo said.
�Probably all of this is evolutionary,� he said.
The policy won�t apply to sidewalks but will to shared-use trails, DeFebbo said.
�It covers Greenways, because those are linear parks,� he said.
While the �most egregious violations� will be liable to prosecution, in general the city expects to rely on smokers� politeness and peer pressure from nonsmoking park users to enforce the policy, rather than assigning already-busy employees to look for smokers, DeFebbo said.
�We�re not going to become �smoke police,� � he said.
If smokers refuse to comply, city employees can ask them to; and if that�s refused, police can be called, DeFebbo said.
Police Chief Doug Hawkins said that if stubborn smokers refuse to leave or put out what they�re smoking on city property, that could be grounds for charges of criminal trespass or disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.
Smoking is already banned inside all city-owned buildings, and during last year�s debate over a city-wide ban on smoking inside private businesses, which failed, commissioners asked DeFebbo to put together a policy on smoking at parks, he said. To do so he talked with a �disparate group� of city employees, park board members, commissioners and the DRA, DeFebbo said.
�It took awhile to get this developed, because there were so many different interest groups,� he said.
The first signs should start going up in two weeks, Gouvas said.
�I�ve got 40 signs ordered right now,� he said.
The city has 26 parks, and signs will go up on all entrances, Gouvas said. Most of them say smoking is allowed in adjacent parking lots, but some small neighborhood parks like Ogden and Lee Square have no designated parking, he said. Signs for those locations just say they�re smoke-free facilities.
Another 30 signs have been ordered for the edges of parking lots, announcing that there�s no smoking beyond that point, Gouvas said.
The first signs will go up in places that will see heavy use soon, such as the Russell Sims Aquatic Center, he said. The smoking area which was near the pool�s concession area has been taken out, Gouvas said.
DRA Executive Director Cheryl Blaine said the Circus Square area will probably be away from the parking spots, since those are close to the park�s interactive fountain, which designers don�t want fouled with cigarette butts. The park is big enough to place the smoking area elsewhere, but the location hasn�t been decided, she said.
DeFebbo said he knows smoking is a �very visceral issue� with many people, but this is part of the city�s effort to protect public health and set an example for the many children who use public parks.
Gouvas said that while there are some safety concerns, such as the fire danger around playground wood mulch, the main thrust is toward promoting a healthy community.
�I think this is a way to get started on it,� he said.
Copyright 2008 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)
