- 7/16/2010 - Vote Daily for Dog Park Video!
- 6/30/2010 - Tacoma resident is one of 59 contestants vying for half-million dollar donation
- 6/18/2010 - Life Jacket Program at Point Defiance Marina
- 5/28/2010 - Vision Presented for Restoration of People’s Pool
- 5/28/2010 - Point Defiance Kiosk Relocation and Rejuvenation
- 4/30/2010 - Thank you voters!
- 4/30/2010 - Online voting could help rejuvenate historic site in time for centennial celebration
- 4/30/2010 - North End neighbors present Park Board with vision for community garden space
- 4/24/2010 - Thousands of volunteers anticipated on Parks Appreciation Day April 24
- 4/2/2010 - Point Defiance Park’s Five Mile Drive, Fort Nisqually & Off-leash area Closed Due to High Wind
Proposal to make parks smoke-free in City of Tacoma
Mar 31, 2009
Board of Park Commissioners Study Session
The board heard presentations regarding a proposed smoke-free parks ordinance during their March 23 Study Session.
Dr. Anthony Chen, Executive Director for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, cited the following as key reasons the agency supports a proposal to pass legislation making Tacoma's Parks smoke-free, based on the health and clean-up costs to citizens and taxpayers, including:
- Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in United States (1). Direct and indirect costs from smoking are about $413 million annually, or the equivalent of $546.30 each year for each Pierce County resident (2).
- Pierce County residents appreciate clean air. 80% of Pierce County residents do not smoke (3).
- If we can prevent young children from copying smoking behavior, we will make them and our community healthier. 90% of smokers start before they are 21 years old. Studies have shown (4) that teens are more likely to smoke if they see friends and adults smoking.
- At least 409 cities across the United States have passed ordinances to prevent smoking in outdoor facilities, such as parks and beaches (5). Washington cities with such an ordinance include: Anacortes, Battleground, Ellensburg, Gig Harbor, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Moses Lake, Puyallup, Ridgefield, and Tumwater.
- Every year, 480 million cigarette butts are littered in Washington State (6). Cigarette butts are not biodegradable and can take 15 years to decompose. They harm our environment and cost taxpayers money to clean up.
Ralph Dannenberg, Director of Puyallup Parks and Recreation talked with commissioners about his City's adoption of smoke-free legislation in 2002. He expressed support for the law, and credited its passage with a decrease in litter from cigarette butts that often clogged city drainage systems and required a good deal of clean up time. When asked by the board about enforcement he commented that a month after the law was adopted, community awareness led to self-regulation much like other activities that are prohibited in parks.
Next Steps:
Adoption of a smoke-free parks law would require the Tacoma City Council to amend the Tacoma Municipal Code.
The city's legal staff is researching the proposal for a code change and will present its findings and recommendations to the Council's Public Safety, Human Services, and Education Committee. The four member committee would determine whether to advance the proposed ordinance to the nine members of the Council for a vote.
It would be up to the Council to enact any change to the law but members of the Board of Park Commissioners indicated that, following review of the findings and recommendations presented to the City Council, the commission may request a resolution stating the board's position regarding the proposed legislation.
Footnotes:
1) Behavioral Risk Factor Survey. For Pierce County data on smoking and health, see: 2003 Behavioral Risks of Pierce County Adults, produced by Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and available on our website at: http://www.tpchd.org/files/library/11dce9d559f558d1.pdf
2) Calculated by Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department staff, based on 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey data and census figures from 2007.
3) See Washington's Department of Health's Fact Sheet for Pierce County, 2007, at: http://www.doh.wa.gov/tobacco/data_evaluation/Fact_Sheets/pier2007.pdf
4) Wakefield, et al, "Do Restrictions on Smoking at Home, at School and in Public Places Influence Teenage Smoking?´Impact Teen Research Paper Series, No. 3. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, 2000.
5) American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, "Municipalities with Smokefree Park Laws." Berkeley, CA. www.no-smoke.org.
6) Washington State Department of Ecology.