The township is planning to declare parks and Sports fields here smoke free. But for now, the municipality will rely primarily on the honour system to make the prohibition work.
Last April the local Parks, Culture and Recreation Committee recommended that council make all municipal properties, “smoke and tobacco free.”
After researching the issue, CAO Patty Sinnamon provided council with a follow-up report at the Jan. 18 council meeting. She recommended that “smoke free park” signs be placed in all township parks, Sports fields and outdoor recreation areas. However, she stopped short of recommending council actually ban smoking, noting that enforcement would be the responsibility of the municipality.
“Township staff certainly recognize that second-hand smoke is a health issue and several larger municipalities have enacted bylaws to restrict or ban smoking in parks or Sports fields. However, enforcement of such a bylaw in Mapleton is a concern to staff in that we do not have staffing resources available to enforce the bylaw,” Sinnamon observed in her report. “Use of the parks and Sports fields is generally during the evening hours and weekends when staff is not available. If such a bylaw were to be passed and an individual had a complaint about smoking in these areas, an enforcement officer would need to be called out to investigate and proceed with a fine, if warranted. In all likelihood, the smoker will have probably left the area by the time an enforcement officer arrives.”
“Who’s going to enforce this?” wondered councillor Mike Downey.
“That’s my point. No one,” replied Sinnamon.
“Unless we’re going to have the resources to actually enforce a bylaw, there’s no point in having a bylaw,” she stated.
Sinnamon suggested posting of “This is a smoke free park,” signs might be enough to deter smoking.
Council agreed with the recommendation to post the suggested signage.
In response to a question from councillor Neil Driscoll, Sinnamon explained the policy does not affect the PMD Community Centre, where smoking is already banned within a minimum distance of the building.
