Palm Coast Moves Forward with Ban on Smoking in Parks

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.