ST PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg leaders are looking at new rules pertaining to banning smoking in public parks and beaches citywide.
It’s a move that comes as cigarette butt litter continues to pile up along our prized coastlines.
Every week, Sarah Tarrant collects seaweed on the shore and repurposes it in school gardens in Pinellas County. The organization she is with, The Edible Peace Patch Project uses it as a free resource to supplement their gardens with environmentally friendly materials. Yet, sometimes she finds something unwanted.
“Inadvertently, sometimes there’s cigarettes in the seaweed,” Tarrant explained.
They don’t take long to spot at Northshore Park, where Tarrant was collecting seaweed on Tuesday.
“I live in Gulfport, and Gulfport instituted a ban not long ago on cigarettes on our public beaches, and I definitely noticed a difference in how much cleaner the beaches look,” Tarrant added.
This month, St. Pete leaders will look at new fines that’ll cost smokers $93 for lighting up at any city park and a handful of city beaches. That includes Northshore Beach, the St. Pete Municipal Beach in Treasure Island, Maximo Beach and Spa Beach at the St. Pete Pier.
Patricia DePlasco of Keep Pinellas Beautiful said it’s a needed change. Her organization hosts several community cleanups, and they pick up tens of thousands of cigarette butts every year.
“It’s very frustrating when you clean up one week and come back the following week, and there’s a whole bunch more trash there,” DePlasco elaborated.
The ordinance would include cigarettes and filtered cigars. Vaping is already banned at parks and athletic facilities. Jonny Alnajjar is a smoker and thinks a smoking ban is too restrictive.
RELATED: Pinellas Commissioners consider beach smoking ban in September for three county-owned beaches
“Some people, they like to have cigarettes if they have a lunch or something. They come here to enjoy. I don’t think there are any problems with smoking here,” he said while enjoying the St. Pete Municipal Beach Park.
He wishes people were more respectful with their litter so that rules wouldn’t be needed.
“Sometimes people leave the cigarette butt right by the trash can. When they leave the cigarette, I’m like, ‘hey please can you just pick up your cigarette because the turtle season we have now’, it’s important. Some people, they refuse, and I pick it up and say have a good day.”
If city council members vote to move this proposal forward, the ordinance wouldn’t be enforced until January, giving city leaders time to let people know about the new rules and post new signage at parks and beaches.
It comes as Pinellas County is also set to consider a smoking ban on three county-owned beaches: Fort De Soto, Sand Key and Fred Howard Park. Their proposal only targets the beach and dune area specifically and does not pertain to parks or parking lots.
“Maybe this will bring some awareness to people, and maybe they will in the future be more conscientious of picking up their litter,” Tarrant added.
St Pete. City Council will discuss the proposed smoking ban on September 15. Then, on September 29, they’ll have a public hearing where members of the public can weigh in on the changes.
Pinellas County Commissioners are set to discuss their proposed smoking ban on September 15. The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. A decision is not expected on that date, and a future public hearing would take place before a vote is taken.
