By carolyn o’connell
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — City officials hope to have an ordinance in place banning smoking on public beaches, and possibly the boardwalk, before the beach season begins.
During a workshop session of a city meeting last week, Carl Jennings, director of recreation, and William Richards, public safety director, addressed the mayor and City Council about possibly adopting an ordinance to prohibit smoking on public beaches.
The ban will not be enforced at private beach clubs, such as the Promenade Beach Club or those in the Elberon section of the city.
The governing body, which is in favor of the idea, has requested that Jennings and Richards research the subject by looking at what other municipalities have done.
Jennings noted that he has looked at Belmar’s ban on smoking on the beaches but has yet to look at Shrewsbury Borough’s ordinance, which bans smoking on borough-owned properties.
A statewide regulation, Jennings noted, bans smoking at any high school outdoor event.
"Smoking is an unhealthy habit," Jennings said. "Secondhand smoke kills.
Mayor Adam Schneider, who is in favor of the ordinance, said, "Everyone has the right to go to the beach and not inhale somebody else’s smoke."
Then there is the matter of cleaning up the tossed cigarette butts left behind by smokers.
According to Jennings, when volunteer groups clean the beaches, the main litter they find is cigarette butts. "They are very hard to pick up with a beach rake. They’re just too small. Right now we hope the raking just buries them."
The ordinance, if adopted, would only be enforced from the Brighton Avenue beach north to the Seaview Avenue beach. The beach area in front of the Ocean Place Conference Center and Resort hotel may or may not fall subject to the ordinance, noted Jennings, because the beach is owned by the city but used by the patrons of the hotel.
Enforcement will be the challenging component to this ordinance, according to Richards.
"I support the ban on smoking in principle," said Richards, "but enforceability is another issue."
That is why the decision to include the boardwalk in the ordinance requires some careful planning.
"Enforcing it on the boardwalk is under review," said Richards. "It could present something of a challenge."
Jennings said he is looking ahead at Oceanfest and the thousands of people who attend the event. He said such a large gathering would present particular problems should the ban be extended to the boardwalk.
Schneider said, "Banning smoking on the boardwalk may be overregulating. There are limits."
The plan is that the bike patrol would enforce the no-smoking restriction, and designated areas to smoke may be implemented. But that measure may also create some negative feelings, the mayor noted.
"If we have smoking areas, big crowds may congregate to smoke," said Schneider. "We may have to rethink it."
Jennings said he would meet with Richards, the mayor and City Administrator Howard H. Woolley Jr. before the council has its next meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday.