Fred Ortega
Lighting up is about to get a little harder for smokers enjoying the
city's parks and open spaces.
The City Council unanimously approved a new law Tuesday night that
would prohibit smoking within 25 feet of seated events and service
lines in the city's parks. An added condition by Councilman Dave
Weaver prohibiting smoking inside the city's Chess Park, located in
an alley off Brand Boulevard, between Wilson and California avenues,
also passed handily.
The law will take effect on Aug. 11.
The new rules, which punish violators with $100 fines for a first
offense, $200 fines for a second offense and $500 for subsequent
offenses, would apply only to seated events where there is a "focal
point" such as a sporting event, concert, play or speech, Park Ranger
Supervisor Russ Hauck said. Park benches and picnic tables would be
exempted.
Designated smoking areas, signs and ashtrays will be set up by
city staff at events covered under the new ordinance, Hauck added.
The city is heading in the right direction with the new law, said
Steven Gallegos, chairman of the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Los
Angeles County.
"I am extremely impressed with the vision of the City Council,
that they understand the issues and dangers of second-hand smoke,"
Gallegos said, adding that many other cities including Pasadena, Los
Angeles and Long Beach have instituted even more progressive
"curb-to-curb" laws banning smoking in their parks.
"Cigarette smoke has more than 4,000 toxic compounds and there are
even studies that show second-hand smoke is responsible for Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome," Gallegos, a Glendale native, said. "It is our
responsibility as adults to institute laws such as these to protect
our children."
Gallegos' group had worked with the Glendale Adventist Medical
Center, which first approached the city about banning smoking at
public outdoor events in January 2004, in lobbying the council to
pass the law.
"This is another step toward hopefully having smoke-free parks and
a healthier Glendale some day," Martha Rivera, Glendale Adventist
outreach director, said.
Non-smokers and smokers alike, enjoying the day at Brand Park
before the meeting Tuesday said they would welcome the new law.
"I think it is a great idea. I have been affected by smoking in
parks before," Kathleen Brown, a Glendale resident, said while
watching her children playing baseball. The bleachers she was sitting
in would fall under the new smoking ban.
"I think it is terrible to have people smoking near the kids," she
