The Batesville City Council on Tuesday night failed to get enough votes to pass an ordinance that would ban tobacco products at parks and recreational areas owned and leased by the city of Batesville.
Smoking ban burns out
By Andrea Bruner, Guard Assistant Managing Editor
May 10, 2006
May 10, 2006
Whether it’s the Ozark Hawg BBQ Championship, Pagan Pride Day or just someone hanging out with their children, smokers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they can light up at Batesville’s parks.
The Batesville City Council on Tuesday night failed to get enough votes to pass an ordinance that would ban tobacco products at parks and recreational areas owned and leased by the city of Batesville.
Under the “citizen comments” portion of the agenda, which is held at the beginning of city council meetings, Fay Martin addressed the council about the smoking ordinance.
She said it would be “nearly impossible for anyone to enforce” and asked how the city could enforce that when it doesn’t currently enforce the no littering ordinance. “Anytime you drive by, there is trash everywhere. Is that not a waste of manpower? The city parks are underutilitzed as it is, and this would cut out more (users).”
Martin said she is a smoker and uses the park. She is also a part of the local Wiccan group that hosted Pagan Pride Day last year and plans to host the event again this year. “There are a lot of smokers in the group,” Martin said.
She and Lisa Bearden, who was also there with Martin, estimated 75 percent of the 300 attending last year’s Pagan Pride Day were smokers.
The Batesville Kiwanis Club had addressed the council at an earlier meeting with concerns that the club would have to move the Ozark Hawg BBQ away from Riverside Park if a smoking ban were enacted.
The council had held three readings on the smoking ordinance, then decided at its April 25 meeting to amend the ordinance to allow for special event permits and to reflect penalties for non-compliance.
Capt. Bill Lindsey of the Independence County Sheriff’s Office agreed the ordinance would be “difficult to enforce,” and officers would have to see a violation before they can issue a citation.
“Since we’ve just added (to the original ordinance), I’m of the opinion we need to move on with this …,” Alderwoman Dana Mynatt said, “and vote one way or another.”
Martin also said she could understand a smoking ban indoors, but the parks are outdoors. “Is it any more damaging than car exhaust?”
Mynatt said the council should set an example for children.
The council voted 6-1, with Alderman Kegal Smart voting against, for a motion to suspend the rules and do away with the second and third readings.
Then a vote to pass the ordinance failed, with aldermen R.L. Carpenter, John Cooke, Smart and Paula Terrell voting against and aldermen Fred Krug, Doug Matthews and Mynatt voting in favor.
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