Wichterman: Action unlikely before 2013 summer
CAPE MAY – Council here declined to reconsider Deputy Mayor Jack Wichterman’s proposed beach smoking ban without the involvement of a committee to study the issue.
“No, the reintroduction of the issue did not go to my pleasure,” said Wichterman, affably. “The rest of the folks on council want to see a committee appointed to study the matter. As a result, we won’t see any action on the issue until the 2013 beach season at the earliest.”
The discussion on revisiting the smoking ban took place at the Tuesday afternoon work session at the City Hall auditorium.
Council deadlocked on a proposed ordinance to ban smoking at all public beaches, parks and recreation areas in November.
The 2-2 vote meant that the measure failed. Mayor Ed Mahaney and Councilwoman Terri Swain voted against the ban. Wichterman and Councilman William Murray voted in favor of it.
The fifth council member, Deanna Fiocca, was absent from the meeting and scheduled vote.
"It is, perhaps, too large a step," said Mahaney in comments before that vote. Swain decried the number of regulations on personal activity in the city.
Wichterman has maintained that the smoking ban, whether on all beaches or specially-designated beaches, would make the city more welcoming.
“I wouldn’t propose it if I didn’t think it would help Cape May in the long run,” he said. “We draw a family-oriented class of visitors. They appreciate this kind of commitment.
“Look, we have a nice clientele that comes here to visit and stay. Banning smoking on the beach makes things nicer, all around. And, if the ban is only on the sand, there is no significant inconvenience,” he said in previous comments.
Wichterman first proposed the smoking ban on two-thirds of the city’s beaches last April. In a May council work session, representatives from anti-smoking groups made presentations to the five member city council.
At that session, Karen Blumenfeld, of Global Advisors on Smoke-Free Policy (GASP), and Kim Burns, of Atlantic Prevention Resources, presented information that showed at least 21 New Jersey beachfront communities have taken steps toward creating a smoke-free beach environment, whether in whole or in part.
In addition to the dangers of second hand smoke, even in an outdoor setting, Blumenfeld said that cigarette butts take years to decompose and often find their way into the ocean.
Wichterman then brought the proposal to an October work session, where it appeared to have support from all five council members.
“My original proposal was limited to the beaches. It would not have extended to the promenade or to the city’s parks,” said Wichterman. “Those suggestions came from council and went too far.”
“We have a $10.5 million Convention Hall on track to open this spring. If smoking were banned on the promenade, people would have to get across the street at intermission to smoke a cigarette. That is not a reasonable situation,” he said.
At the November meeting where the proposed ordinance failed, local business owners spoke about the impact the ban could have on their bottom line.
At the meeting last fall, Wichterman presented a brief summary of Seaside Park’s smoke ban, which was instituted, he said, with little fanfare and put into effect with no public outcry.
If Wichterman’s proposal had passed, Cape May would have been the first shore town in South Jersey to ban smoking on its ocean beaches. Sunset Bay Beach in Lower Township has a ban on smoking.
The idea was first discussed in 2003 by then-Mayor Jerry Inderwies.
