ORANGE PARK – The Town Council on May 21 voted 4-1, with Councilmember Glenn Taylor dissenting, to prohibit smoking, vaping and use of tobacco products in public parks throughout the town. 

The new ordinance follows the new state law (Section 386.209) which allows local governments to add additional regulations to smoking, vaping and tobacco use. Specifically, Orange Park's ordinance was intended to mirror that of Clay County's. 

Interestingly, a quirk in Florida state law permits "unfiltered cigars" to continue to be smoked in public parks.

The Orange Park Police Department is authorized to warn and instruct smokers to leave the park. If they refuse, violators can be guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor. This will result in a civil citation, which starts at $75 for the first infraction, $150 for the second and $500 for the third.

"Tobacco is the No. 1 leading cause of preventable death in America, claiming the lives of 480,000 people each year. One of those people was my grandmother," one Orange Park High student said at the May 21 council meeting.

"I'll walk across the Orange Park High School graduation stage and receive my diploma. My grandmother will not be in attendance," the student said. 

The student, a member of SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), said secondhand smoke kills 41,000 people annually in America. 

"This ordinance is not prohibitive; it is protective," the student said. 

The words resonated with the council.

"I'm not a smoker. I've never been a smoker. Every time I go to the doctor, they ask me how much I smoke. Maybe it's because of all the second-hand smoke I've inhaled in my lifetime,” Vice-Mayor Winnette Sandlin said. 

"I want our children's lungs to stay as pink as they possibly can, as long as they possibly can," she said.

"I do think smoking is a terrible thing. It's ruined many lives. But I also feel that (for those who do smoke), if they could quit, they would've. I struggle with them being unable to use public parks," Councilmember Glenn Taylor said.

Taylor moved to amend the ordinance to include a provision for a designated smoker's area, but that motion did not receive a second. 

The rationale behind the 4-1 vote was to protect children and minimize litter. For example, cigarette butts and Juul pods could be clustered around a designated smoking zone. 

Clay Today reached out to a local business in the area. 

Karim Ayub works at White Cloud, a smoke shop outside the Orange Park municipal boundary. When informed of the decision, Ayub was receptive.

"I think that's a good idea. I have kids, and I take them to the park for fun."

Ayub doesn't smoke at home if his kids are present, and he doesn't vape in front of them, either. He says that kids are too impressionable to be around the sweet-smelling exhaust from a vape pen.

He was disappointed to learn there would be no designated area. Without a designated area, Ayub said the new ordinance would not have a lasting impact.

"I don't think it's going to work. People are still going to go to the park and smoke anyway. If you want to ban something, you have to give them something. At least give them an option."