September 9, 2012

Portland may ban smoking in parks

The proposal is expected to go before the City Council next month, once the concept of 'open space' is defined.

By Edward D. Murphy emurphy@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND - The city is considering a sweeping ban on outdoor smoking that would include the city's parks and many of its open spaces and squares, sharply limiting where smokers can light up outdoors.

click image to enlarge

Jay Young of Westbrook opposes a ban on smoking in Deering Oaks and other Portland public areas. He says it’s already difficult to find places where he can smoke. “Where else do you have left? You’ve got out here.”

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

click image to enlarge

Alex Bailey of Portland says she smokes in Deering Oaks, and thinks parks should accommodate a wide range of people, including smokers.

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

WHERE SMOKERS COULDN'T LIGHT UP

THE PROPOSAL to prohibit smoking in Portland’s public spaces would include these parks and possibly other areas:

COMMUNITY PARKS

Back Cove Trail, Baxter Boulevard

Deering Oaks, parking lot on State Street, and along Park Avenue and Expo parking area

Eastern Promenade

Payson Park, between Ocean Avenue and Baxter Boulevard

Western Promenade

NATURAL PARKS

Baxter Woods, parking along Stevens and Forest avenues

Baxter (Deering) Pines, access from Ludlow and Leland streets; corner of Mabel Street

Capisic Pond Park, access from Macy Street off Capisic Street and Lucas Street off Brighton

Evergreen Cemetery Woodlands, at the back of Evergreen Cemetery on Stevens Avenue

Fore River Park, Hobart Street at Congress Street

Oatnuts Park, Summit Street

PATHS

Wooded area behind Portland Arts & Technology School, Allen Avenue

Pine Grove Park, Ray Street between Virginia and Nevada streets

Presumpscot River Preserve, Overset Road off Curtis Road and via Oatnuts Park Trail 40

Riverton Trolley Park, corner of Riverside Street and Forest Avenue

University Park, off Allen Avenue at Yale Street, or at end of Harvard from Washington Avenue

IN-TOWN NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS

Fort Allen Park, Eastern Promenade

Fort Sumner Park, North Street

Harbor View Memorial Park, York and Brackett streets and Tyng and Tate streets

Heseltine Park, Ocean Avenue and Irving Street

Lincoln Park, Congress, Pearl and Federal streets

Post Office Park, Spring Street, between Exchange and Market streets

Tommy’s Park, corner of Spring and Exchange streets

GREATER PORTLAND NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS

Bedford Park, Deering Avenue at Bedford Street, near USM

Belmeade Park, Baxter Boulevard and Belmeade Road

Barrows Park and Baxter Sundial, Baxter Boulevard at Vannah Avenue

Fessenden Park, corner of Deering and Brighton avenues near USM

Longfellow Park, Longfellow and Oakdale streets/Noyes Street

Nason’s Corner, near Breakwater School, Capisic and Albion streets

Quaker Park, Forest Avenue at Riverside Industrial Parkway

Stroudwater Park, intersection of Congress and Waldo streets

Stroudwater Park 2, corner of Congress and Westbrook streets

Trinity Park, Forest Avenue at Coyle Street

Winslow Park, Baxter Boulevard at Preble Street Extension

ISLAND PARKS

Fort Gorges, Casco Bay

Peaks Island

OFF LEASH DOG PARKS

Quarry Run Dog Park, 1026 Ocean Ave. at Presumpscot Street

Valley Street Dog Park, Valley Street

Source: City of Portland website

The proposal is currently in limbo because the city lacks a formal definition of "open space." But the chair of the City Council committee that has drawn up the ban said that issue will be surmounted later this month and the proposal is expected to go before the full council in October.

Smokers say they are rapidly running out of spaces where they can smoke, but proponents of the ban said the health effects of secondhand smoke are so great that it makes sense to constrain where smoking is allowed.

Jay Young said he's a good example of someone with limited options for where to smoke. His apartment in Westbrook is in a smoke-free building. Most of the places he goes are public buildings where smoking is not allowed. And almost all the bars and restaurants in the state are smoke-free.

So his opinion on a proposal to ban smoking in city-owned parks and open spaces in Portland is not surprising.

"I think that sucks," he said of the proposed ban while bicycling -- and smoking -- in Deering Oaks. "Where else do you have left? You've got out here."

The proposal was expected to be taken up by the Portland City Council on Wednesday but was instead referred back to the Public Safety Committee because of the definition problem.

But once that detail is settled, committee chairman Ed Suslovic said the city's direction is clear.

"I feel like the city has already said that the right to breathe clean air trumps smokers' rights," Suslovic said. "In the public opinion battle, the smokers are not winning."

Portland is far from alone in seeking to control where smoking is allowed, both indoors and out.

Most states have laws banning smoking in public buildings and 625 communities have laws banning smoking in parks.

"It's certainly a growing trend," said Cynthia Howard, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, which advocates for tougher laws on where smokers can light up.

Howard said Arcata, Calif., was the first community to limit outdoor smoking by banning it in a city plaza in 1997. Within years, other towns and cities did likewise, with New York City adopting a ban in parks and "pedestrian plazas," such as Times Square.

Howard said the bans show that limiting the health risks from secondhand smoke is paramount.

"There is no constitutional right to smoke," she said. "There is no protected class in terms of people who smoke."

Portland already prohibits smoking in most places, including within 25 feet of playgrounds, beaches or athletic fields. The state also prohibits smoking in most areas of state parks and on state beaches.

Howard noted that her organization is launching a campaign to create smoke-free campuses at colleges around the country -- and last week, the University of Southern Maine's new president, Theodora Kalikow, said that college will be tobacco-free by Jan. 1.

Nonsmokers in Portland seem to be generally in favor of either banning people from smoking in parks or restricting where they can smoke in a park.

Mollyrae Bock of Portland said she favors a ban, partly to maintain the clean air and partly to reduce the litter of cigarette butts.

She said that even walking outside with someone who's smoking leaves one smelling like cigarette smoke, adding "and that's not attractive," while shooting a glance at her friend Kaitlen MacDonald, a smoker, as the two strolled through Deering Oaks.

(Continued on page 2)

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