Smoking ban sought for parks

Salt Lake County wants to join the ranks of 11 Salt Lake Valley cities and snuff out smoking at county parks.

On Tuesday, the County Council asked the district attorney's office to research the other cities' smoking bans and tailor the county's ordinance to those in an effort to provide uniformity across the valley.

"We're not taking a lead on this, we are actually a Johnny-come-lately on this," said County Councilman David Wilde, who sponsored the ordinance. "I hope we can all agree that smoking is a public health issue. Anything we can do to make a statement that says we want to deal with a public health issue is a good thing for the county to do."

Secondhand smoke poses a "serious health hazard that causes premature death and disease in children and nonsmoking adults," according to a 2006 report from the surgeon general. "There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke."

Councilman Michael Jensen knows the dangers of smoking all too well. His father, a smoker, died of emphysema.

Now Jensen gets irked when he sees smokers line up behind the backstop to watch their children play baseball.

The council discussed establishing smoking zones, like keeping smokers at bay for a set number of feet from ball fields and such, but Jensen and other members of the council dismissed the idea.

Instead, the county would prohibit smoking in all 94 parks and recreation centers. Parking lots are fair game to light up, however. If someone is caught smoking, the punishment would likely be a citation, like a traffic ticket, but those details are still being worked out.

The council is also debating whether to ban smoking on the county's six golf courses.

Councilman Joe Hatch, who quit smoking 24 years ago on his 30th birthday, said "we need to deal with secondhand smoke big time," but this ordinance doesn't quite do it for him.

"I do have a concern about the nanny aspect of it," Hatch said. "What the heck are we making it illegal for?"

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com