Newport delays smoking ban decision

Lolita Harper

City officials put out a burning desire to ban smoking on public

beaches on Tuesday, saying they will wait to reexamine the issue

after summer.

On the heels of the Malibu City Council’s decision on Monday to

ban smoking on its beaches, Newport Beach council members again

examined the pros and cons of outlawing cigarettes along their

stretch of the Pacific.

Council members agreed during a study session to put the ban on

hold to watch how other cities that have adopted such laws handle

enforcement during the busy summer season, Councilman John Heffernan

said, adding that the council disagrees on the issue.

“We are split going forward,” he said.

The issue will be handed to the Parks, Beaches and Recreation

Commission to keep track of, and will return to the council sometime

in the fall, officials said.

Mayor Tod Ridgeway said he considered it to be a positive,

“well-meant” move that allows the city to take a closer look at a

possible ordinance, without rushing into anything.

“We would need to evaluate where there were [to be] smoking

zones,” Ridgeway said. “Where would a nonsmoking zone end? At the

sidewalk? In the parking lot? Would it be just around the pier or on

the pier?”

Stephanie Barger of Earth Resource Foundation, who lead the charge

in the smoking ban, said she was disappointed that the council missed

the perfect time -- summer -- to make a difference in the pollution

on the beach.

“The public came out overwhelmingly in support. I don’t think

certain members of the council are representing their public,” Barger

said.

While she is upset, Barger said she would want to see the ban pass

only when the whole city embraces it and is fully educated.

Pressure to prohibit nicotine puffers on public sands and piers

came from Barger and the Earth Resource Foundation in Costa Mesa,

which spearheaded a similar unsuccessful effort in November, citing a

main concern of litter but also of the effects of second-hand smoke.

The foundation started surveying people around the pier in

Huntington Beach last March and found a majority of respondents

favored smoke-free areas at the beach and surrounding areas.

Newport leaders pondered the idea in November but abandoned it

because of the difficulty in enforcing it.

But then students from Newport Harbor High School increased the

pressure on council members in April, holding a press conference

about the alarming number of cigarette butts they had found during a

recent beach cleanup. They marched into a Newport Beach council

meeting and again asked leaders to reconsider the ban.

It was their continued effort that got the issue a second look.

Students in coach Scott Morlan’s surfing class adopted the

smoke-free beach initiative as their class project. They and students

in the Earth Resource Foundation Club collected about 700 signatures

on petitions for a beach smoking ban.

Morlan said his students were disappointed Tuesday to learn their

proposal had been kicked down to a commission. “The kids felt great

support in the beginning and walked out [of the study session]

feeling somewhat dismissed,” Morlan said.

Once in the parking lot, others in attendance congratulated the

students on a job well done and they felt a little better, Morlan

said. Barger was one who said she “was very proud” of the high school

students.

“All in all, it was a good experience for them,” Morlan said.

Beach smoking bans have already been approved in Santa Monica, San

Clemente, Los Angeles, Oceanside and most recently, Sydney,

Australia.