Schenectady City Council: Light up in park, pay up to city

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
by Justin Mason
Daily Gazette

SCHENECTADY — Smoking cigarettes could soon get a bit pricey for those caught lighting up in certain areas of Schenectady’s Central Park.

Members of the City Council have amended a proposed ordinance banning smoking at all park pavilions, ball fields and playgrounds to include a fine. Now, anyone spotted smoking in these areas will face a fine of $50, according to the law.

And smokers aren’t alone in facing the fines, either. The proposed ban, which was encouraged by the Capital District Tobacco-Free Coalition, also covers chewing tobacco.

The law is scheduled to be voted on by the council in mid-June and may go into effect sometime in July. President Gary McCarthy said the ordinance has broad support among council members and hasn’t faced any criticism from the community at large, which seems increasingly willing to limit the areas where tobacco use is permitted.

“Now you generally get a broad-based community support to try and implement [these types of laws] and make them work,” he said.

At a public hearing Monday, nobody spoke either in favor of the law or against it. Though the law only covers the city’s largest park, Schenectady officials are hoping to one day apply it to all of the parks.

“I think we’d look to phase in some of these things to keep the environment smoke-free,” McCarthy said.

City officials enacted a partial ban of smoking about two years ago, when they prohibited tobacco at Tiny Tot Land in Central Park and at all of Schenectady’s public pools. At that time, the council hesitated on a more expansive ban of smoking in parks after some members worried that such a law might be impossible to enforce.

Some of those concerns remain. For instance, Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard wasn’t immediately clear whether the tobacco ban on sports fields would also include spectator areas.

But Blanchard said adding teeth to the law is a good start to ensure that it’s enforced. She said adding the fine may also make tobacco users a bit more self-aware of their surroundings before they smoke or chew.

In addition, the ban could also help keep the park cleaner. Though complaints about tobacco use aren’t frequent, city Department of Public Works crews often complain about having to pick up discarded cigarette butts from around the park.

“The litter that comes with cigarette smoking is really serious,” Blanchard said. “We don’t have the money to pay people to pick up this litter.”