Smoke here, but not there: Smoking banned in parks, not on trails, sidewalks

Don’t worry about going to a concert at a Greenwood city park and having to get up and move if you don’t like that someone lit a cigarette next to you.

You can ask that person to put it out, and city ordinance would be behind you.

Smoking is no longer allowed at Greenwood city parks and won’t be permitted outside any city buildings next year.

Greenwood is banning smoking in all parks and on city-owned property, such as the community center and police department parking lots. The Greenwood City Council voted 8-1 Monday to extend the city’s ban to all city-owned property except for streets, trails and sidewalks.

Smoking was banned immediately in parks, city attorney Krista Taggart said.

City council members said the ban would protect residents from secondhand smoke in the parks, especially at crowded festivals, concerts and other events. They also said that stopping employees from smoking at work would give them reason to quit, improve their health and could save the city money on health insurance.

Council members Bruce Armstrong, Ron Bates, Mike Campbell, Brent Corey, Linda Gibson, Thom Hord, J. David Hopper and Tim McLaughlin voted for the proposal. Council member Ezra Hill voted against it.

Hill said he thought the ban would be difficult to enforce. He said he believed the city should instead create designated smoking areas in parks and allow smoking in such areas during special events, such as WAMM Fest.

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