MARQUETTE — A draft ordinance regarding smoking in city parks, beaches and playgrounds was the major issue on the agenda at Monday’s Marquette City Commission meeting.

The commission discussed the proposed ordinance to repeal Chapter 22, Article III of the Marquette City Code, which covers smoking laws within city limits. Specifically, the commission is focusing on section 22-60, which states that smoking is prohibited in all public places and deemed a nuisance.

The city is working to clarify the issue with the draft ordinance, which lists city parks, beaches and playgrounds as places where smoking is prohibited.

The motion to draft a new ordinance was approved at the July 27 commission meeting and was presented on Monday night. The issue of smoking in public parks and on public beaches was first addressed at a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting on July 20. Littering of cigarette butts along the Lake Superior shoreline and the harmful effects of second-hand smoke were the primary reasons a revised ordinance was proposed, according to a previous Mining Journal article.

The motion for the city attorney to draft the ordinance was made by Commissioner Pete Frazier and passed 7-0 at the July 27 meeting.

After the discussion at Monday’s meeting, a motion was made by Commissioner Fred Stonehouse to return the draft ordinance to city staff for more revision and be presented again within 60 days. The motion passed 6-1 with Commissioner Evan Bonsall being the lone “no” vote.

The draft ordinance lists 24 city parks and beaches where smoking would be prohibited, including Presque Isle Park, Tourist Park, Mattson Lower Harbor Park, South Beach and McCarty’s Cove. The draft also states that smoking would not be permitted within 100 feet of Kids Cove Playground at Mattson Park or any city-owned soccer or ball fields, excluding private property.

Tourist Park was a primary point of discussion, with commissioners raising the point that the park is more than just a campground. There was also debate on whether or not parks should even be included in the ordinance, as well as the potential impact on events.

“Tourist Park, in my opinion, should not be in this group,” said Commissioner Paul Schloegel. “Quite honestly, I’d like to see all the beaches be smoke-free. Would I like to see all parks smoke-free? Absolutely. I’m a huge proponent of clean air and respecting each other’s personal space, but when it comes to a number of these parks, we’re going to have to really take a look at the impact that something like this would have to special events that are going to be going on.

“If we’re looking at everything from lower harbor to Hurley Park to a number of these other venues that host specific events, whether it’s Beer Fest, Seafood Fest, Guts Frisbee, you name it. There’s certain groups that you’re going to see that are more prone to be likely to have people that might smoke, and at the same time I’d expect that we’d leave it up to those event coordinators to specify how they might want to include an option for smoking at their events, as well as putting aside a specific area to smoke.”

Bonsall said there could be a way to compromise on the issue for special events and Tourist Park.

“I think with regards to Tourist Park, perhaps this ordinance should not prohibit smoking within the confines of rented campsites, without removing the entirety of Tourist Park from the list,” Bonsall said. “I also think that perhaps we could include an amendment which specifies that there can be designated, temporary smoking areas at events and festivals held in city parks on the condition that the event organizers receive permission through the special event permitting process.”

Health and pollution were also focal points at the meeting, with Commissioner Sally Davis as well as Stonehouse both raising concerns about cleaning up the shorelines.

“One of our major objectives here is to protect our lakes and streams,” Davis said. “Rather than just listing the beaches, I would prefer to list all city-owned beaches and shorelines.”

Stonehouse also brought up the issue of Tourist Park.

“I might suggest we consider making some removals to the list that we might think don’t fit the way they should,” Stonehouse said. “For example, I think Tourist Park, we might want to think about removing from this list, simply because we have people coming up with campers and RVs, and it’s really a different place than being an actual city park.

“Certainly this is going to be a difficult thing for a lot of people to accept, but we do have to realize that there’s 100 million people — according to the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) –in the United States that have asthma, emphysema or some other breathing disorder. People who can be exposed to this type of secondhand smoke and have trigger reactions to it (that) can be extremely serious. We also know that cigarette butts are quite literally the No. 1 polluter on beaches. We can blame some of that pollution coming through storm drains and people dropping them on city streets, but a large amount is from smoking.”

Other talking points were categorizing vaping as a form of smoking, a potential revision of Marquette City Code Chapter 22, Article III in its entirety and how the ordinance would be enforced.

In other business conducted Monday, the commission approved recommending a new liquor license application for Honorable Distillery, which is slated to open in 2021 in the former Book World building at 136 W. Washington St. The distillery requested on-premises tasting room permits which will need to be approved through the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. The state requires applicants to receive an affirmative recommendation from the local legislative body before approving the permits.

A new two-year lobbying services contract with Karoub Associates was also approved. The current contract was slated for expiration Sept. 1 and was extended through Sept. 1, 2022.

The commission approved the sale of 1.48 acres of property adjacent to Marquette Branch Prison to the Michigan Department of Technology Management and Budget’s Real Estate Division. The state is looking to purchase the property to create more room for a Department of Corrections warehouse that partially rests on city property. The state wants the land to develop an expanded driveway for the warehouse to help accommodate larger vehicles, as well as making the Carp River channel a natural prison boundary. The property was valued at $11,100. Marquette City Manager Mike Angeli recommended selling the property for 80% of its appraised value, $8,880.

Ryan Spitza can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. His email address is rspitza@miningjournal.net.