Mayor seeks to expand prohibition on smoking

HAMDEN » Council members heard strong voices for and against expansion of the smoking ban on town properties, at a town council meeting this week.

The ban currently prohibits tobacco use in town parks, public schools and recreational facilities. The proposed expansion to the 2016 ban includes any townowned property designated by the mayor or a designee.

“When someone says, ‘I don’t want to breathe that smoke,’ they should have the legal backing that supports their right to say that,” resident Phil Nista said. “And the people who are doing that smoking in public places should be accountable for their actions.”

The ban initially was voted in place last year as part of the town’s effort to make Hamden “Healthy, Clean & Green.” Signage was posted last summer to designate non-smoking areas.

“We’re trying to get areas that people congregate where they don’t want secondhand smoke,” Mayor Curt Leng said. “The dangers of secondhand smoke are clear and defined.”

Areas such as the Farmers Market and Keefe Community Center were intended to be included but were not enforceable under the initial ban because they don’t entirely rest on townowned property, Leng said.

The ban carries a $100 fine for violators. But one resident said it is not being enforced by police.

“I went to a town event a few weeks ago with my wife and three children and there were people smoking 15 feet from police officers and the police did nothing,” said Dan Garrett. “Unless this is going to be enforced by the police, I see this as futile, unless there is a very good effort that gets out to the public that we cannot smoke on town property.”

However, one man thinks the council should focus on other issues entirely. “There are a lot of issues which concern me as a voter in this town and this Hamden ordinance controlling where people may light a cigarette or chew tobacco just isn’t one of them,” Robert Kissel said. “I regard this as a scandalous waste of our time.”

Only 10 municipalities in Connecticut ban smoking in parks, including Meriden, Wallingford and New Haven. That ban prohibits tobacco use and electronic cigarettes in all government buildings and at cityowned or operated playgrounds, school grounds, sports fields and parks.