A new bill authored by City Councilman Ikaika Anderson would make smoking illegal at all city parks and beaches.
The measure comes on the heels of Bill 72 (2012), signed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Monday, which bans smoking at seven East Honolulu recreational facilities including Kapiolani Park, Sandy Beach, Kuhio Beach and the sandy areas of Ala Moana Beach Park.
But Anderson, in introducing Bill 25 (2013), said it is unfair to impose the law on some parks and beaches on Oahu but not others.
“If the city is to protect the public’s health from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, then we ought to have a broad policy that protects public health at all city parks and not just a handful of beach parks,” Anderson said. The bill would apply to all city parks and beaches, but not municipal golf courses.
Anderson was the only one of the nine Council members to vote against Bill 72, introduced by Councilman Stanley Chang.
A move by Anderson to include all city parks and beaches into that measure was rejected 5-4.
Chang has argued that it would make more sense to apply the bill to only a small section of the island first as a pilot program to see how it works.
Caldwell, in signing that bill, said he would support a smoking ban at all city beaches and parks. The mayor said Wednesday he would sign Anderson’s bill if it is approved by the Council.
“It’s a health issue and an environmental issue, in my mind,” the mayor said.
Anderson’s bill is expected to get its first airing before the full City Council at its meeting Wednesday in Kapolei.
The Chang bill signed by Caldwell applies to seven parks and beaches, but a technicality will prevent it from being enforced at six of the seven parks until a bill resolving the legal issue is passed. That’s because those six parks, although managed by the city, are on land owned by the state, and existing city law explicitly says the city will not prohibit smoking on state land.
The administration has proposed language for another bill that would allow for enforcement at the six parks, but it has not yet been introduced.
But Anderson said that bill won’t be necessary because his bill would also fix the glitch in language.
