Spending time on local sands while smoking a cigarette and
sipping a cup of coffee ““ this scenario might soon be just a
memory if a proposed law banning smoking on Los Angeles area
beaches is successful.
The measure to ban smoking was introduced by Fifth District City
Councilman Jack Weiss and will be heard in the near future by the
city council’s Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee.
Weiss, the councilman who represents the UCLA area, is first
chair of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, an agency
established at the beginning of 2003 to work with California and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revive and enhance the
Santa Monica Bay.
The main point, highlighted by Weiss in a statement released
last week introducing the proposed smoking ban, is that cigarettes
are the most common litter on California’s beaches.
Weiss said there is no excuse for leaving cigarette butts on the
beach and “if it is going to take a law to stop it, then so
be it.”
During the California Coastal Commission’s 2002 Coastal
Clean-up Day, more than 300,000 cigarette butts were removed from
the area, which outnumbers a combination of the next top
pollutants, Weiss added.
Jonathon Gottlieb, a third-year literature student, said a law
like banning smoking on the beach is giving too much power to the
government, and it will not be enforced.
“The answer is not restricting the rights; it’s
education. … Individuals should be held accountable for keeping
the beach clean,” Gottlieb said as he smoked a cigarette
outside Powell Library.
It is unknown whether Mayor James Hahn would support such a
measure, according to his office.
If this law passes, its effects might go much further than
Venice and Cabrillo beaches.
The law could trigger a domino effect and cause proposals for
similar laws in beach cities throughout the state.
An example is the statewide ban on smoking in restaurants, which
started in 1992 in Solana Beach, a small city about 20 miles north
of San Diego.
Today a $50 fine is imposed on anyone who is caught smoking in a
restaurant or bar.
As council members and other officials in Los Angeles consider
different aspects of the ban, Solana Beach recently became the
first city in California to ban smoking on its 1.4 mile stretch of
sand.
Decisions regarding the ban were made Oct. 21 at a Solana Beach
City Council meeting, and the law will be effective as of Nov.
21.
The ban also includes a one-acre community park. There will be
no designated smoking areas in the vicinities.
The project will cost between $2,000 and $5,000, the amount
required to post signs informing beach goers of the new law.
“The purpose is mainly education, and the level of
enforcement is yet to be determined,” said Matt Rodriguez,
assistant city manager of Solana Beach.
Currently, there are no specific penalties for smoking on the
beach or park in Solana Beach, but a citation will be warranted and
the San Diego County sheriff might get involved if the number of
incidents is larger than anticipated.
The law is a campaign for safety and welfare and is designed to
raise awareness about issues with storm water regulation and
pollution, Rodriguez said.
The city of Solana can look over its 12,000 residents without
dedicating substantial resources to the cause, but the financial
impact for Los Angeles will likely be greater.
“The resources it would take for the enforcement of this
law in Los Angeles depends on how zealous the city council is going
to be,” Rodriguez said.