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Official hopes to catch wave of local beach smoking ban
Thinks Beach Haven should follow Seaside Heights
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BEACH HAVEN - In light of the recent smoking restrictions on Seaside Heights' beaches, Commissioner Tony Deely said he still has hope it can happen here as well.
Deely proposed banning smoking on the beach at a Board of Commissioners meeting earlier this year.
"I threw it out there and nobody bit," he said.
Deely said a group of second-grade students at a local elementary school came up with the idea. But there has been no further discussion within the governing body about a possible ban, he said.
"There's a bunch of places that have done it. I threw it out there ,and it was like I threw the power off on Dec. 31," he said.
The Seaside Heights ordinance requires smokers to remain within 20 feet of the boardwalk if they want to smoke. The rest of the beach is smoke-free.
Beach Haven's sand is cleaned routinely but discarded butts are still an eyesore, Deely said.
"Second-hand smoke and the link to cancer, if that isn't a problem and reason enough, I don't know what is, aside from unsightly debris on the beach. It's harmful to children if it's ingested, and surely it can harm sealife, too, if it's ingested," he said.
Mayor Michael Battista said he is totally against banning smoking on the beaches.
"I think it's the wrong thing to do. At this stage in the game, with the economy the way it is, I wouldn't want to do anything to disrupt tourism and access to our beaches," Battista said.
"The beaches belong to the people, and those people who want to smoke should be allowed to smoke. If they are inconveniencing people next to them, they can move or ask the person to stop," he said.
Battista said he does not agree with people using the beach as an ashtray, and said he is in favor of a smoking ban in children's playing areas. But he also said too many rules can ruin a good time.
"I just think there are enough restrictions on the beach. I would like remove some of the restrictions and let people have a good time up there," he said. "But I could be dead wrong. Banning smoking could increase traffic. It's a very controversial issue."
Beach Haven would not be the first to ban smoking. Over the past few years, several shore towns in California have kicked the habit off their beaches.
The first local municipality to ban puffing was Belmar, Monmouth County, in 2001. Officials passed an ordinance banning smoking on the beach except in designated areas. In 2002, Manasquan followed suit.
In Ocean County, Toms River Township banned lighting up on most of Ortley Beach in August 2002. Two years later, the state created a smoke-free section at Island Beach State Park.
Lynne Schluter, of Westwood, Bergen County, has rented a home in Beach Haven every summer for the past 30 years and enjoys lighting up on the beach. She doesn't like Deely's proposal.
"I'm not very happy. It makes me angry," she said. "You can't smoke in a restaurant, and if I'm sitting on the beach, and I'm near the water, no one seems to be bothered. I don't throw them in the sand. I always have a little bucket with me."
Inside the Old Tyme Smoke Shop early Monday evening, customers filed in and out after dinner, purchasing cigars and cigarettes. The hum of the humidors in the tall wooden cabinets could be heard when curious smokers opened their doors.
It was Mike Selliga's second time in the shop Monday. He buys the generic brand Wave cigarettes and came back for 100s.
"It would be horrible if they banned smoking on the beach, then Communism would be right down the road," the Beach Haven resident said.
Selliga said he is a responsible beach-smoker: he extinguishes his cigarettes in the sand and puts the butts in his pocket to throw away when he leaves.
"You can't do anything up there anymore. Why would they want to take this away," he said.
Bill O'Neill, of Middletown, N.Y., switched to cigars from cigarettes years ago and was buying a few inside the shop. O'Neill suggested the borough designate areas for smokers.
Clyda Bell, of Westchester, N.Y., was buying her daily pack of Marlboro Lights. She said she's a "closet smoker" - even her children don't know - and that she'll never quit. But she also said the beach is not the proper place for it.
"Smoking on the beach is disgusting. I have two kids and I've never smoked in front of them. They should ban it," Bell said, clutching her pack of cigarettes.
E-mail Donna Weaver:
Posted in OCEAN on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:10 am
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