The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of banning smoking and vaping in public city parks. The issue was a relatively easy cause for the Council to agree on leading to a unanimous 4-0 vote (Mayor Mike Norris was absent). A final vote to enact the policy is set for the City Council’s June 3rd meeting.
The move also applies to Palm Coast’s expansive network of walking and biking trails. The responsibility to enforce the policy will ultimately fall on the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, whom Palm Coast contracts for law enforcement protection as opposed to creating a city police department.
Speaking to the City Council on Tuesday about the impacts of the ban was James Hirst, the city’s parks and recreation director. He explained that the move was less to crack down on behavior that can be perceived as unsightly, and more to protect residents from secondhand smoke. Also present to advocate for the ban was Tyrese Gaines, a policy director for Tobacco Free Florida.
The authority for the city to ban smoking and vaping in public places derived from the Florida Clean Air Act, a piece of legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year which gave municipal governments the power to take such measures.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
TR
May 22, 2025 at 10:09 am
Good news!
Charles B Reese
May 22, 2025 at 11:08 am
I think it’s going way beyond there authority it’s a public park paid for by taxpayers money
and a cigarette somker or a Vapor are tax payers so that park is just as much their park as a non smoker so what’s the next thing that want to Infringe against people’s rights like make it Illegal to look at someone Angrily or pointing at something that mite upset someone or skipping in public and don’t hold hands or give someone a kiss in public!!!!!!
Government over reach is getting out of hand and the people who pay them have no say about anything they do or a bill or a Ordinance they impose against tax payers that’s because they think are Dictators not Public Servants !!!!!