Windham Taxpayers

May 22, 2007
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM - While supporters say banning smoking on the town beach will keep children safe, opponents want to know what human rights will be taken away next.

Windham became the fourth community in the “Live Free or Die” state to prohibit smoking on its beach last night after selectmen voted 3-1 to adopt a ban.

The measure, like a proposed statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, has been divisive.

“When I was a kid, I was at the beach a lot and now I have skin cancer,” said resident Bob Coole. “Maybe we should close the beach except on rainy or cloudy days.”

Coole echoed the sentiments of the few residents who attended the public hearing. Three residents spoke against the ban last night in contrast to the two who expressed support for the measure at an informational session last week.

The Board of Selectmen adopted the ban after about an hour of debate, with Selectman Roger Hohenberger voting against the policy. Chairman Al Carpenter did not attend the meeting.

Selectman Margaret Crisler, whose mother died from lung cancer, said the decision would keep children away from harmful secondhand smoke.

“We shouldn’t subject children to this,” Crisler said.

But Coole and Hohenberger said they worried about the precedent the ban could set.

“I think what we’re doing here is dangerous,” Hohenberger said. “What right do we have to tell somebody how to live?”

The regulation prohibits people from using pipes, cigars, cigarettes and anything else to smoke tobacco on town beach property, including the parking lot. It is to be enforced by the Police Department and violators may face fines of up to $1,000.

“I have no interest in trying to regulate lifestyles,” Vice Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said. “It’s about a safety issue … I don’t think children should be exposed to it.”

The matter first came up a few weeks ago when Recreation Director Cheryl Hass suggested setting up a separate area on the beach for smokers.

She said lifeguards often have to stop children from playing with cigarette butts and adding them to the tops of their sand castles. The small beach leaves little space for people to escape secondhand smoke, the selectmen said, and Hass also worried that children running across the beach could be burned by lit cigarettes.

Last week, the selectmen took the debate a step further and considered enacting a smoking ban for all town recreational property. Those in favor of such a measure argued that prohibiting smoking on fields and in parks would set a good example for children. But after lengthy debate and several proposals, the board decided that people may not be bothered by secondhand smoke at other recreation areas, which are larger than the town beach.

Those opposed to the smoking ban agreed that people should refrain from lighting up on the beach, but still wanted to designate a smoking area.

“If I’m going to be there for four or five hours with my kids, what am I supposed to do?” asked resident Galen Stearns.

But Senibaldi compared allowing smoking on the small town beach to having a smoking section on an airplane. And the board was concerned that if it designated a smoking area, parents might leave their children on the beach unattended.

Coole called the ban discriminatory; Hohenberger said it was ludicrous.

“We used to pride ourselves on being the ‘Live Free or Die’ state,” Hohenberger said. “We’re starting to drift into this area where we’re subjected to the rule of the few.”

Hass said Holderness, Peterborough and Wakefield have similar smoking bans on their beaches.

Keene adopted the state’s first restaurant smoking ban in 2001. In Manchester, smoking is prohibited at circuses, carnivals and other amusement venues. In Concord, the use of all tobacco products is prohibited at six of the city’s 18 public parks and playgrounds. The remaining 12 parks have specific areas for tobacco use.

The regulation will go into effect immediately in time for the beach’s opening June 9.

May 15, 2007
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM - After an hour of debate, consideration of several proposals and a close vote, the selectmen decided last night to create a policy to ban smoking at the town beach.

But even though Selectman Bruce Breton said he received nearly 170 phone calls in support of a smoking ban, only three people showed up for last night’s public information session - including two residents who mostly had questions.

It came down to a 3-2 vote in support of restrictions that moved the proposal forward - with concern for public health outweighing debate over personal freedoms.

“It’s a worthwhile thing to do for our children; it’s a worthwhile thing to do for all of us,” Breton said. The proposed policy will be drafted by town officials and the Recreation Department, with a public hearing before the selectmen and then a vote scheduled for Monday.

Chairman Alan Carpenter, a former smoker who voted against the ban, supported designating a section of the beach for smokers.

“If we have 10 percent of residents who smoke, they’re still residents, they still pay taxes,” Carpenter said last night. “This is not only America, this is New Hampshire and if they want to do that to themselves, they have a right to.”

Selectmen discussed several proposals last night before settling on a regulation that would prohibit smoking at the beach. The idea was originally brought to the board last week by Recreation Director Cheryl Hass, who hopes to have a policy in place before the beach opens for the season June 9.

Hass’ suggestion was taken a step further by the board, which discussed prohibiting smoking on all town recreational property.

Beth Lippold, the only resident last night to voice strong support for the ban, said she is concerned about secondhand smoke and the possibility children playing on the beach could be burned by a lit cigarette.

“I don’t think it’s fair to little kids,” she said.

As for a proposal reviewed by the selectmen to stop people from smoking on recreation fields and playgrounds, Lippold said “smoking and athletics don’t really go hand in hand.”

But Selectman Roger Hohenberger said regulating smoking could force the board down “a slippery slope.”

“As much as I don’t condone smoking around children, I also don’t condone trying to legislate lifestyles,” he said. “If this is totally about health, there are so many other things we should look at banning, like trans-fats.”

But Vice Chairman Dennis Senibaldi disagreed.

“You don’t die of secondhand French fry inhaling,” he said.

The focus moved away from regulating smoking on all town property after it became clear the Recreation Department was primarily concerned about the beach.

Carpenter said while he understood the concerns about smoking on the beach where a little smoke could bother a lot of people, parks and athletic fields leave plenty of room for smokers to walk away from the crowd.

“Let’s not fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” he said.

Breton agreed that while smoking on other properties may not lead to complaints, he still supported the ban on all recreational property.

“It may not be a problem in Griffin Park, but it is an example we can set and lead by and it won’t become a problem,” he said.

Having a designated smoking area at the beach raised concerns that parents might leave their children unsupervised when going to smoke. A proposal that would have set aside a portion of the beach as a smoking area was rejected.

While Carpenter and Hohenberger opposed the overall smoking ban, Breton, Senibaldi and Margaret Crisler voted in support.

Since banning smoking from public property is a controversial subject at the state and local levels, Town Administrator David Sullivan said he was “frankly shocked” and “very surprised” that more people did not attend last night’s session.

Selectmen will next meet Monday at 7 p.m. in the town Planning and Development Department.