ST. CLOUD, Fla. – St. Cloud is weighing whether to extend its smoking ban to the lakefront, a move that would also broaden how the city defines “smoking” to include e-cigarettes and tobacco substitutes.
Currently, smoking is prohibited in St. Cloud’s parks, recreation areas, and athletic facilities owned by the city, but not at the lakefront. The city believes prohibiting smoking there would improve public health, reduce litter from smoking products, and enhance the recreational environment.
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City code defines the lakefront as all that area between Lakeshore Boulevard to and including a reasonable distance into the waters of East Lake Tohopekaliga.
Some residents who use the area regularly support the idea. Bernie Jansen, a St. Cloud resident, said the ban makes sense.
“They can always get in the boat and go out in the lake and smoke if they want. And plus, the fact all the cigarette butts are flowing all around the place, birds pick them up. It’s not a good thing,” Jansen said.
Others, however, are not convinced the lakefront warrants the same restrictions as more heavily trafficked areas. Sonia Woodson, also of St. Cloud, said the lakefront feels different from busier parts of the park.
“On the lakefront, it’s OK. Again, on the walking path, I don’t agree with it, but in the area over there, where there are hardly any people. You don’t see a crowd like you would over here,” Woodson said.
Zaire McDonald, who visits the lakefront frequently, said it is a place to decompress.
“I go here just to kind of clear my mind. Relax. Sometimes I dance, sometimes I exercise,” McDonald said.
McDonald added that if litter is a primary concern, the focus should not fall solely on smokers.
“I would say to that same token that there’s a lot of people who were fishing and there’s a lot of leftover fishing material that ends up getting thrown and discarded in the lakefront. So, you can’t really consider doing that just to one part of the population, because it is an unfair, bias just because of the negative stigma towards smoking,” McDonald said.
If passed, the ordinance change would also update the definition of “smoking” to include tobacco substitutes, electronic tobacco, and lighted smoking equipment.
The St. Cloud City Council is scheduled to take up the matter at its meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m.