After several debates about smoking bans on the sand of local beach towns and the ability of town police to enforce those prohibitions, a measure to enforce a new no-smoking ordinance on the beach strand of Wrightsville Beach is “on the books” this year, according to Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House.
Meanwhile, officials with Carolina Beach have decided to hold off on enforcement until the municipality receives the go-ahead from the state.
At Wrightsville Beach, enforcement this year is more about getting the word out, instead of writing a ticket every time someone lights a cigarette on the beach strand, House said. The majority of Wrightsville Beach’s sand will be off-limits to smoking per a local ordinance approved by voters in a November 2012 referendum.
“Our focus is really going to be to go out and 90 percent of what we’re going to do is educate people and tell them they can’t smoke on the beach. And hopefully most people, I think, are going to comply and we’re not going to have any issues,” House said.
That doesn’t mean the occasional ticket won’t go to visitors who refuse to follow the rules.
If a visitor is combative with officers or the visitor repeatedly breaks the ordinance, “unfortunately, they may end up with a ticket,” House said.
“But that’s not what we intend to do. We would rather people just comply and it be that,” he said.
If a ticket should go out, there is a maximum fine of $50 for the citation. House said any person who gets a ticket could either pay the fine or appear in court.
“It’s an infraction,” said House. “So it’s similar to like running a stop sign. It would be enforced on a state citation.”
The main concern of town officials and citizens is the litter smoking brings to Wrightsville’s beach strand, and he hopes eliminating smoking on the beach will eventually reduce it.
For the convenience of beachgoers, cigarette receptacles are currently in place at most public access locations. House said this is so visitors can “extinguish that cigarette without ever actually bringing it on the beach.”
The town also has signs at every access to remind citizens about the beach’s rules, which include the smoking prohibition.
Enforcement and jurisdiction
“We [the town] own most of the beach,” House said. “The good thing about Wrightsville Beach, and the way that the statute reads is that we can enforce it on any property owned by the town.”
The statute House cited during an interview gives municipalities the power to restrict smoking in public places.
North Carolina General Statute 130A-498 states, “a local government may adopt and enforce ordinances, board of health rules, and policies restricting or prohibiting smoking that are more restrictive than State law and that apply in local government buildings, on local government grounds, in local vehicles, or in public places.”
Click here to read about a House bill that raises some opposing views about beach town smoking bans.
“Fortunately for Wrightsville Beach, unlike many of the other beaches, we own the vast majority of the beach,” House said.
According to House, a large portion of the beach strand was deeded to the Town of Wrightsville Beach per an agreement with the state in 1989.
Wrightsville Beach police plan on enforcing the town’s smoking ban over the entire island, except in areas where ownership is questionable, such as sand north of Shell Island and south of Jack Parker Boulevard.
Carolina Beach
Carolina Beach also has a similar ordinance in place, but Police Chief Kurt Bartley said they don’t plan to write tickets.
Interim Town Manager Bruce Shell said Carolina Beach’s smoking ban is an ordinance the town’s government has passed, but the state hasn’t yet granted approval to enforce it.
“In August the board passed an ordinance subject to action by the state. So it’s not an ordinance until the state acts on it. And so, the town of Carolina Beach is really not backing off of an ordinance. The town of Carolina Beach is just not in a position to enforce the ordinance because it doesn’t become one until the state takes the necessary action to allow it,” Shell said.
Since the beach strand at Carolina Beach is owned by the state, Shell said, “He’s [Bartley] got an ordinance that he cannot enforce. You can’t keep people from doing it, if you can’t enforce it.”
The focus will be “on education,” Bartley said.
Carolina Beach police won’t be writing any citations, but they’ll try to bring awareness to visitors of why the ordinance is in place. Smoking and the litter it causes on the beach sand is bad for the environment and the smoke may be disturbing to fellow beachgoers, Bartley said.
“I think it will be worked out hopefully by the state legislature,” Shell said. “Hopefully we’ll hear something by June. We’ll wait and see.”
“We want to be good stewards in working with the state and being fair to our citizens,” Shell said.
Click here to read about past discussions about smoking-ban authority.
Christina Haley is a reporter at Port City Daily. Reach her at (910) 772-6337 or christina.h@portcitydaily.com.
