The 100 block of West First Street isn’t a good spot for smoking or bylaws.
City of North Vancouver council voted to continue a pilot project intended to keep cigarette smoke out of the area at a Nov. 6 meeting. However, at least one councillor was hoping to extinguish the voluntary portion of the ban.
“If we say ‘voluntary,’ we might just as well not bother having this policy,” Coun. Pam Bookham said.
Following complaints from business owners between Lonsdale and Chesterfield avenues, council declared the block a voluntary no-smoking zone on May 2, 2016.
Staff opted for the “gentler approach,” due to the inherent problems of fining smokers, explained city business services manager Larry Orr.
“We just don’t have the resources or the staff to surveil businesses,” agreed city community services director Emilie Adin.
But Bookham argued that “even the occasional enforcement” might force smokers into waiting to exhale.
A voluntary ban is “appropriate,” countered Coun. Craig Keating. If the city enforced a bylaw banning smoking on West First Street, “We better have a good reason . . . why it doesn’t apply to the whole city,” he said.
In order to gauge the effectiveness of the voluntary ban, bylaw officers observed pedestrians on the block for 40 hours over 10 days in May and June. Staff noticed 36 smokers, including seven who sat down to puff.
Staff also interviewed 10 businesses in the area about the voluntary ban. While nine respondents supported continuing the ban, only two business owners said they noticed a decrease in smoking after the signs were erected. Five respondents said they hadn’t noticed any change and three said they didn’t know.
While the results aren’t conclusive, “staff believe the policy and particularly the signage will make smokers think twice,” according to a staff report.
Updating the signage for the area is expected to cost less than $1,000.
Pursuing the issue is a waste of resources, according to Coun. Rod Clark. “It would seem to me that it’s been a failure,” he said. “I’m on that street a fair bit and quite honestly, I haven’t noticed any difference.”
Coun. Holly Back questioned the necessity of including the word “voluntary” in the signage. “Do we actually have to put on the sign: Voluntary? Can we not just put a No Smoking sign up?” she asked.
Keating suggested a No Smoking sign would carry the appearance of an enforceable municipal bylaw.
A smoking bylaw would be “very difficult if not impossible to enforce,” Mayor Darrell Mussatto agreed.
The city previously came under fire by an East First Street business owner who said the city had failed to issue a single ticket to a smoker who was within three metres of doors, windows and air intakes.
Given that some of the smokers on West First Street are young people, issuing fines is probably not the best method to alter their behaviour, noted Coun. Linda Buchanan.
Council voted 4-2 to extend the ban and expand the signage, with Couns. Bookham and Clark objecting.
With the legalization of marijuana in the pipeline, Bookham raised the alarm that more smoke might waft through plazas in Central Lonsdale and on the waterfront.
Bookham called for city staff to investigate the possibility of banning smoking in city plazas and parks. Her motion was supported unanimously.
Coun. Don Bell did not attend the meeting.
