By Mark Darrough - July 14, 2019
Mayor Doug Medlin said he is considering a no-smoking ban to sections of the beach after conducting an online poll that found about 4,400 voters – 68 percent of all votes – in favor of a ban.
SURF CITY — Although a beach smoking ban has not yet come to a vote before Town Council (nor is one currently scheduled), Mayor Doug Medlin said he is considering the town’s options after receiving significant feedback from residents who have complained of cigarette butts littering the island’s beaches and nearby streets.
Following various town-organized and private community ‘beach sweep’ and ‘street sweep’ events since last October, the mayor posted a poll on his Facebook page asking residents whether they supported such a ban. More than 6,500 people voted, 68 percent of whom believed there should be no smoking on the beach.
“I’ve had a lot of people coming to me about banning smoking on the beach,” Medlin said earlier this week. “I do think it’s something worth discussing.”
RELATED: Surf City disputes recent report of smoking ban heading for Town Council vote
Medlin said that although second-hand smoke is an issue, the more common complaint has centered around littering. Sally Edens, a member of the town’s planning board, agrees.
“It started with the beach sweep, and most of what they picked up was cigarette butts,” Edens said.
State law supports ban of smoking in public
Nearby, Topsail Beach does not have a similar policy and is not currently considering one, according to Jennifer Beard, the town’s administrator. Further south, Wrightsville Beach adopted a no-smoking ordinance on its beach strand following a 2012 referendum.
While Carolina Beach adopted a similar ordinance, it decided to hold off enforcement until it received approval from the state. According to Carolina Beach Town Clerk Kim Ward, the town never adopted the ban after discussions with its attorney, who said there existed “no enabling legislation that would allow you to enforce that policy.”
North Carolina General Statute 130A-498, however, states that local governments may prohibit smoking in public places; a list of exemptions does not include public beaches.
“[A] local government may adopt and enforce ordinances, board of health rules, and policies restricting or prohibiting smoking that are more restrictive than State law and that apply in local government buildings … or in public places,” the law states.
It also states that a rule or policy adopted by an entity exercising powers of a local board of health, which in this case is the Pender County Board of Commissioners, “must be approved by an ordinance adopted by the Board of County Commissioners of the county to which the rule applies.”
Chairman George Brown said Thursday he would delay comment until Surf City made a decision on the issue and came to the county with a formal request, if such a request was necessary.
As the statute reads, applying smoking restrictions via board of health rules represents only one of three options. It appears the town may also adopt and enforce ordinances or policies apart from board of health rules. The specific mechanism Surf City uses to enforce the ban may depend on whether Medlin and Town Council cite health or litter concerns when drawing up an ordinance.
Medlin said he and town staff are still in the process of gathering information and researching other North Carolina beach towns that have implemented similar laws. But he said that he currently favors a ban on certain sections of the beach as opposed to the entire beach.
In 2018, an ordinance was adopted to establish a zone prohibiting smoking, vaping, and alcohol consumption on a quarter-mile stretch of beach that lies between Greensboro Avenue and Kinston Avenue, which is near the Surf City Pier, according to Police Chief Ron Shanahan.
Environmental concerns
Jim Conway, chairman of the town’s Beautification and Appearance Committee, said he supports a complete ban, citing well-established dangers of second-hand smoke and environmental concerns presented by discarded cigarette butts.
“We don’t want those cigarette filters with the fish and the water,” Conway said. “We already have a massive pollution problem in the U.S., so why would we have people who are vacationing at the beachfront potentially getting rid of their cigarette butts and making their way into the ocean?”
Conway said that cigarettes littering the island’s streets can easily make their way into the Atlantic Ocean or Intracoastal Waterway. After a street sweep he helped organize in May, he said volunteers collected an excessive amount of cigarettes near the areas around bars at the town’s north end.
“Even with a light storm that stuff’s going to blow away into the ocean or blow its way into the Intracoastal Waterway,” Conway said. “I think it’s a problem already with some of the bars that are not restaurants, and to have it on the beach exacerbates that issue.”
Although some fellow residents have discussed concerns of how the town could effectively enforce such a ban, he believed many would respect the rule of law. It would also allow the town to “send a message that says, ‘We don’t want this here.'”
“I guess the town’s going to have to weigh everything,” Conway said.
[Read the article as published here.]