The Park

No Puffin in the Parks Begins Today

July 6, 2015 6:58am

Today is the first day of smoke-free parks… maybe. I say maybe because the new ban is not slated to be strictly enforced.

If you need a little refresher… here’s the gist:
The unanimous decision by the Board of Park Commissioners expands the existing smoking ban from within 25 feet of another park visitor to no smoking on any publically accessible park land. The ban will be enforced by trained park staff who will issue verbal and written warnings. Park staff will have no authority to issue fines or exclude smokers from parks.

According to the Parks Department, the new rule is similar to what more than 1,000 other cities and jurisdictions are doing nationwide, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Portland and San Francisco.

So. if you’d like to report a person smoking, you can use the Seattle Police non-emergency line at 206-625-5011.

Park visitors who have been given a written trespass warning for smoking in a park can set up a meeting to dispute the claim by emailing Right2dispute@seattle.gov or by calling 206-684-4075.

Smoking is allowed on public rights-of-way, including sidewalks. For more information about the smoking ban, please visit the Seattle Parks and Recreation website at http://www.seattle.gov/parks/smokingban.

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