Smoking Likely To Be Banned From Township Parks, Parking Lots, Near Municipal Building

The township will likely ban smoking from all areas of its public parks and from within 50 feet of its municipal building.

The borough will likely do the same, and the matter was brought up at a Borough Council meeting May 24. The borough's Board of Heath proposed the law, and Township Committee member Robert Gallop said at a Township Committee meeting Thursday that he had discussed the matter with the Joint Recreation Committee.

Essentially, it would ban smoking from all municipal parks, including in parking lots. It would also prohibit people from lighting up within 50 feet of Township Hall on Meyersville Road.

The majority of township committee members said they felt this was a matter of public safety, and said they wanted to put the prohibition in place for that reason.

Police Chief John Paton and Department of Public Works Director Joe Barilla both said they would have no problem with the measure, since none of their members light up near their main offices or in their vehicles.

But not all township committee members were on board right away. Bailey Brower said he didn't approve of the township getting into people's personal business, saying "I'm sick and tired of big government telling me what to do."

"I don't think we have to decide everyone's life by the time they get up and the time they go to bed," Brower said.

But Gallop said the township was simply trying to improve the quality of life within the municipality.

"This is not big government—this is small government," he said. "It is [the role] for government to put in protection for the youth."

Township Administrator Thomas Ciccarone noted people can't smoke in lots of places in today's society.

Airplanes, restaurants, businesses—smokers can't light up in any of those places, he said. So, he said, what's one more such place to add to that list?

"I think they can attend a baseball game at Nash Field without lighting up," Ciccarone said.

The law would cover people smoking in their cars on public property, meaning someone would have to go totally off the property if they wanted to light up.

Borough Board of Health Chair Lisa DeRosa said at the May 24 Borough Council meeting first-time violaters would likely not be fined. It would be more likely for them to receive a warning first.