By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton will seek to ban smoking in all municipal public parks and recreational facilities to combat exposure to second-hand smoke, the first community in Mercer County to take such a step.
The ban, contained in an ordinance that the Princeton Board of Health is scheduled to adopt March 19, also would create a 35-foot smoke-free zone outside the entrance of all public buildings. Smoking is already banned inside municipal buildings.
First-time violators would face fines of “not less than” $250, a penalty that escalates for repeat offenders, based on the proposed ordinance.
Princeton Health Officer David A. Henry, an advocate for the measure, said Wednesday that the earliest the law could take effect would be in late April or early May. Signs would have to be installed alerting park users of the regulation, although the town has said the American Cancer Society would provide them at no cost.
”We’re trying to do our part to become a healthier community,” Mr. Henry said.
Mayor Liz Lempert, a supporter of the ban, said Wednesday that people are “entitled to clear air to breathe” when they use parks, fields or playgrounds.
Princeton Councilwoman Heather H. Howard, a former commissioner of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, said Thursday that Princeton has a history of leading on the issue, having been one of the first to pass a ban on indoor smoking.
Today, 164 New Jersey towns and counties in the state restrict smoking in parks and recreation areas, said Karen Blumenfeld, executive director of Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy, a Summit-based organization that provided technical assistance on the ban to Mr. Henry.
He said he would not anticipate any pushback from opponents. But the way the ordinance is worded, smoking would be prohibited on any sidewalk or parking lot “adjacent to” a park or recreational facility. That would mean a smoker walking along side of a park technically would be violating the ordinance, which the Health Department and the Princeton Police Department will be responsible for enforcing.
Mr. Henry said he hoped that the law would be self-enforcing in that people who see violators would speak up and say something to them.
Smoking is already prohibited inside the municipal pool complex and in Hinds Plaza, located next to the Public Library. But Mr. Henry said he has heard a complaint that pool users will smoke on the sidewalk in front of the complex, a practice that would be prohibited based on the ordinance.
For his part, Princeton Recreation Director Benjamin Stentz said Wednesday that he could not recall the last complaint about someone smoking in a park. His department would not be responsible for enforcing the ordinance, based on the way the measure is drafted.
The public will get a chance to weigh in on the ban at the Board of Health Meeting, scheduled for March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the former Borough Hall.

