Atlantic Beach bans smoking at the beach and in parks. For the mayor, it's personal

In Atlantic Beach, it's now illegal to use the beach as a giant ashtray.

Citing health and environmental concerns, the City Commission this week unanimously passed a ban on smoking cigarettes in public parks, on the beach and at beach accesses.

Atlantic Beach was able to make the move after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bipartisan law that allowed municipalities to ban smoking in public places, though vaping and unfiltered cigars are exempt from the law. Previously, cities could not take such a move on their own.

Atlantic Beach is the first municipality in Duval County to act on the issue. Its ban is effective immediately and allows for police to issue a $75 ticket to violators.

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The beach city's mayor, Ellen Glasser, said writing tickets will be a "last resort" for scofflaws.

"This is not something we plan to come down hard on people with," she said. "We don't envision police officers out there writing violations."

She said the ban is more about education and changing attitudes, as has been seen with laws protecting sea turtles and sand dunes. "We rarely cite for those things, but we know it's not OK," she said.

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For Glasser, the issue is personal — so she acted quickly after the state move.

In 2006, after she retired from the FBI, Glasser rode a bicycle from Seattle to Washington, D.C, raising money for the American Lung Association in honor of her mother who died of lung cancer after a lifetime of smoking. Along the way, she scattered her mother's ashes.

She said that over her four years as mayor, she had been lobbying the Florida League of Cities to back a smoking ban in public places.

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"It's litter, it's the environment, it's public health, it's kind of a trifecta of things we can move along on," she said, noting that cigarette butts make up a significant chunk of beach trash.

"They're pretty much everywhere," she said. "People will go out there for a few hours, put all their cigarettes out in the sand, like it's a big ashtray."

After the state on July 1 lifted its prohibition which kept cities from acting on their own, she made the issue a priority. The unanimous decision came at her last City Commission meeting before the November election.

Glasser said she is sure there is opposition to the ban, but she has received no emails so far.

Other beach communities take note

The ban was also backed by the city of Atlantic Beach Environmental Stewardship Committee and nonprofit groups Beaches Go Green and Tobacco-Free Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Chris Hoffman said her city has discussed making a similar move but has decided, for now, to proceed with banning smoking just in parks.

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There's interest in making smoking illegal at the beach as well, but the city will first see how other cities do with their beach bans. "The main concern is the ability to effectively enforce," she said.

Neptune Beach Mayor Elaine Brown said Neptune is considering a similar ban to Atlantic Beach's. A workshop on the issue is planned for Nov. 28.

St. Augustine commissioners in August unanimously passed a ban on vaping and smoking in city-owned and operated public parks. Offenders face a fine of up to $100 per violation.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Atlantic Beach bans smoking at the beach and parks after Florida law