Town Board of Health to consider ordinance banning smoking on public property

The Princeton Board of Health will vote on a proposed ordinance to ban smoking within 35 feet of all municipally owned property, public parks and outdoor pools on March 19. If the ordinance is approved by a majority vote of the nine-member Board, first-time violators would be punished with a $250 fine.

Princeton would be the first municipality in Mercer County to adopt such a policy, but the $250 fine is in line with a state statute, according to Health Department Officer David Henry.

“This is not about getting revenue,” said Heather Howard, a Princeton Councilwoman who serves as the Council’s liaison to the Board of Health. “The goal is to create a smoke-free environment.”

Howard, who is also a lecturer at the Wilson School, said she first suggested the ordinance to Henry in February. She added that she thought it would be approved unanimously.

Because of the 35-foot condition in the ordinance, a designated smoking area at the old borough municipality building will be relocated, while the remote patio for smokers at the Princeton Municipal Complex will not be affected.

Howard said she has received positive feedback from her colleagues and the public about the ordinance. Although no formal initiatives have been taken to gauge public support, the vote on March 19 will be open to the public, and an initial hearing on the ordinance in February was also open to the public.

Mayor Liz Lempert said state law allows the Board of Health to pass the ordinance without the approval or oversight of the Council. According to Howard, Princeton police will enforce the ordinance.

Henry said Princeton has been a leader in the county and state in establishing anti-smoking measures since 2000, when the town passed an ordinance prohibiting smoking indoors.

“Princeton was at the vanguard in promoting measures to limit smoking,” Howard said. “This is a natural extension of that now.”

Local philanthropic organizations may contribute to address some of the ordinance’s costs. With a grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the local branch of the American Cancer Society purchased 3,000 “no smoking” signs last year and has given the signs to communities that have adopted non-smoking policies. Of the remaining 100 signs, a yet-to-be-determined number will be donated to the Princeton municipality if the ordinance is passed, Henry said.

“Already what we’ve seen is one of the barriers to having a smoke-free outdoor ordinance is the ability to let people know about it because it’s expensive,” Rachel Lendner, the American Cancer Society local representative and manager for the Tobacco-Free for a Healthy New Jersey, said.

According to Henry, 167 other municipalities in New Jersey have already instituted such an ordinance, but none in Mercer County have so far.

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“It’s not just about the signs. It’s also about working with community stakeholders and policy makers and educating them about the advantages of having smoke-free outdoor polices in your community,” Lendner said.

Howard and Lendner both believe that the ordinance will greatly benefit the community.

“It’s one more way we can protect the public health,” Howard said. “Our smoking rate has been going down, but it’s still too high.”

Lendner emphasized the ordinance’s potential impacts on youth.

“Once you pass a law like this, you have made a statement to our children that smoking in public is an unacceptable activity,” said Lendner. “If I am a child and I rarely see someone smoke, it’s not going to cross my mind that this is something that somebody will do.”