ST PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg city leaders voted unanimously to ban smoking on city beaches on Thursday. The decision comes as cigarette butt litter continues to pile up along Florida's prized coastlines.
Under the ban, smokers can now be fined $93 for lighting up at any city park and a handful of city beaches. That includes Northshore Beach, the St. Pete Municipal Beach in Treasure Island, Maximo Beach, and Spa Beach at the St. Pete Pier.
The ban goes into effect immediately, but will not be legally enforced until January 1.
Patricia DePlasco of Keep Pinellas Beautiful said it’s a needed change. Her organization hosts several community cleanups, and they pick up tens of thousands of cigarette butts every year.
“It’s very frustrating when you clean up one week and come back the following week, and there’s a whole bunch more trash there,” DePlasco elaborated.
The ordinance includes cigarettes and filtered cigars. Vaping is already banned at parks and athletic facilities. Jonny Alnajjar is a smoker and thinks a smoking ban is too restrictive.
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“Some people, they like to have cigarettes if they have a lunch or something. They come here to enjoy. I don’t think there are any problems with smoking here,” he said while enjoying the St. Pete Municipal Beach Park.
He wishes people were more respectful with their litter so that rules wouldn’t be needed.
“Sometimes people leave the cigarette butt right by the trash can. When they leave the cigarette, I’m like, ‘Hey please, can you just pick up your cigarette because the turtle season we have now’, it’s important. Some people, they refuse, and I pick it up and say have a good day.”
It comes as Pinellas County is also set to consider a smoking ban on three county-owned beaches: Fort De Soto, Sand Key and Fred Howard Park. Their proposal only targets the beach and dune area specifically and does not pertain to parks or parking lots.
“Maybe this will bring some awareness to people, and maybe they will in the future be more conscientious of picking up their litter,” Tarrant added.
