{"id":4202,"date":"2017-06-20T01:10:30","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T05:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/?p=4202"},"modified":"2017-06-20T01:15:03","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T05:15:03","slug":"lavallette-council-turns-down-smoking-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/2017\/06\/lavallette-council-turns-down-smoking-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Lavallette Council Turns Down Beach Smoking Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"No<\/a>

No smoking sign at a local beach.<\/p><\/div>\n

Requests from two residents at a council meeting Monday night were not enough to convince borough officials to enact an anti-smoking rule on Lavallette\u2019s beaches.<\/p>\n

Mayor Walter LaCicero said the \u201cperennial\u201d request to ban smoking was not something the governing body hadn\u2019t dealt with before, and \u2013 like this year \u2013 could not garner enough council support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmoking has gotten to be a lot less in Lavallette, thankfully,\u201d said resident\u00a0Mary Heveran. \u201cHowever on certain parts of our beaches there are people who smoke cigars consantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heveran asked council members to consider a ban at a future meeting, but LaCicero instead asked for the matter to be dealt with immediately, requesting a motion from a council member to propose the ban.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Joanne Filippone did so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have to take a stand like all the other beaches have done,\u201d said Filippone. \u201cIf Seaside Heights can have a beach with no smoking, I think we can have one too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim MacDonald, a Camden Avenue resident, agreed that a ban should be put into place, saying he started a discussion on a local Facebook group proposing a ban. The Facebook group\u2019s members, he said, \u201c15 or 20 to one,\u201d supported a ban, but the administrator of the page removed the debate because it had \u201cturned nasty.\u201d<\/p>\n

No other council members seconded Filippone\u2019s motion, effectively killing the chances of a ban being passed.<\/p>\n

James Borowski made his own motion to ban smoking within the flagged areas where swimming is allowed, but likewise received no second.<\/p>\n

Council members brought up varying reasons why they would not support a ban. Councilman Robert Lamb said he was concerned over how the ban would be enforced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard enough to keeps dogs off the beach and people off the dunes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Heveran said the ban would be mostly self-enforced \u2013 a sign banning smoking would stop the vast majority of people from doing so \u2013 and Filippone said it could be enforced the same the myriad of other beach regulations are handled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t expect the badge checkers to be enforcers,\u201d said Filippone. \u201cAll it takes is a phone call to the police department. They\u2019ll come down and ticket them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concern is that you\u2019re just moving it to another place,\u201d said Councilman Michael Stogdill. \u201cYou move it to the boardwalk or you move it to the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council President Anita Zalom said the borough only owns to the high water mark, which would make it difficult to enforce at the water line or on jetties.<\/p>\n

The lack of support for a ban did not satisfy the residents who spoke out in favor of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe not one of you wouldn\u2019t second Joanne\u2019s motion,\u201d MacDonald told council members.<\/p>\n

Lavallette is one of the last local holdouts where smoking is still allowed on the sand. It is either banned or heavily regulated in Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, Ortley Beach and Bay Head.<\/p>\n

A statewide beach smoking ban overwhelmingly passed both chambers of the state legislature last year, but was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Should Smoking Be Banned (or Regulated) on Lavallette Beaches?<\/strong><\/p>