In advance of considering a ban on smoking in all public areas, Hermosa Beach hosted a panel of experts last week to discuss the benefits and challenges of curbing tobacco use.
The forum, held in association with the Beach Cities Health District and the Surfrider Foundation, addressed the health and environmental impacts of smoking. It came as the city steps up enforcement of its existing smoking regulations.
Panelists agreed that municipal regulation is imperative to alter smokers’ behavior.
“Legislation is the most effective tool we have to protect people from secondhand smoke,” said Mary Eno, regional chief of addiction medicine at Kaiser Permanente, South Bay.
But enforcement has proven challenging. A 2011 ordinance banned smoking in much of downtown, including Pier Plaza. But inconsistent signage and a lack of follow-up left patrons in the area confused, with many continuing to smoke everywhere.
The city began a stepped-up enforcement effort in advance of this year’s Memorial Day weekend. Officials reached out to businesses, designed placards and installed new cigarette disposal bins for the area.
Most cities acting on the issue classify violation of the ordinance as an infraction, with violators eligible for fines, said Statice Wilmore, program coordinator with the Pasadena Tobacco Control Program. Pasadena banned smoking in public places in 2011.
Hermosa’s municipal code makes violations a misdemeanor. Some have questioned whether the more severe punishment has made officers less likely to enforce the law, but Chief Sharon Papa said that her officers are issuing warnings and giving people an opportunity to comply.
City Manager Tom Bakaly has said the City Council may discuss a city-wide ban at an upcoming July meeting. The experience of other cities indicates that the such bans, while more sweeping, are actually easier to enforce. Â
“If you have a designated area, people get confused. They don’t know where the boundaries lie,” said Sona Kalapura Coffee, environmental programs manager in Manhattan Beach. Manhattan has banned smoking in all public spaces, including multi-unit housing complexes.
Greg Newman, co-owner of downtown restaurants, including Palmilla and Baja Sharkeez, agreed that the current arrangement is confusing. He said that his employees occasionally struggle to explain to patrons where smoking is permitted.
“People who are down there all the time will know,” Newman said. “But people who aren’t, you have to draw them a map.”
Newman noted that he and other restaurant owners were initially worried about efforts to limit smoking, but eventually came to see them as a boon for businesses. He believes that comprehensive regulation would ultimately be a positive thing, but said questions remain.
“Late at night, when people are jonesing, they’re just going to go down to the beach and smoke there,” Newman said.
In response, Eno suggested that bars and restaurants in the area stock nicotine lozenges and gum.
The effects of a complete smoking ban on Pier Plaza patronage remain unclear. Kelly, a Costa Mesa resident smoking in the alley just north of the promenade, said she was visiting the area to get a tattoo, and that the fear of getting a ticket would likely make her stop smoking.
Others were not so sanguine. Melanie, a visitor from Arizona who was recently smoking in the alley between Waterman’s and Silvio’s, said a ban would discourage smokers from even coming to the area. She noted that it is common for smokers not to stay in hotels without smoking rooms.
“As a smoker, you always have to be thinking about that kind of stuff,” she said.
