Prohibitions on smoking are becoming more commonplace around the world and a ban on lighting up at popular Honolulu beach parks would have little impact on tourism, supporters of such a measure told the City Council on Wednesday.
"This is becoming the new norm — to have smoke-free places," Maile Sakamoto, Oahu coordinator for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii, told Council members in urging them to pass the ban. "The days of smoking everywhere has changed and people are choosing health and we ask you to support good health as well."
Members advanced the measure by a 7-2 vote, but it will be up to the new 2013 Council to ultimately decide the fate of the proposal to ban smoking at five of the island’s most popular beach parks.
The Council wrapped up business for the year Wednesday. Next year’s Council will welcome two new members when it convenes Jan. 2.
In addition to advancing the smoking ban, Council members also gave final approval to a measure allowing final inspections of newly installed photovoltaic systems to be conducted by a private third party, a measure aimed at easing a backlog in the Department of Planning and Permitting.
The smoking bill still faces another committee hearing and then a final vote before the full Council next year before it would become law.
Bill 72, introduced by Councilman Stanley Chang, would ban smoking at Kapiolani Park and its surrounding areas, Kuhio Beach Park, Duke Kahanamoku Beach Park, the beach portion of Ala Moana Regional Park and Sandy Beach Park.
Chang says the measure is intended to address littering of cigarette butts at beach parks and concerns about secondhand smoke.
"The more we learn about the smoking issue at our beaches, the more it seems to me this bill is necessary," Chang said Wednesday.
Opponents called the measure unenforceable, saying it further intrudes on individual liberties and could affect tourism from countries such as Japan.
Kawika Crowley, an activist who represents the Hawaii Bar Owners Association, said the ban would add to Hawaii’s reputation as inhospitable to businesses, and sarcastically encouraged Council members to pass the ban.
"It has helped in sustaining our reputation as the most unfriendly state for business in the United States," Crowley said. "I think we should maintain this consistency.
"I urge you all, pass this bill. … Let us continue to be the laughingstock of the entire Pacific region as they take advantage of our stupidity.
Councilmen Ikaika Anderson and Tom Berg voted no.
Anderson said the bill is inconsistent.
"If littering is the main concern, which is what the Council has been told since this bill came to pass, it’s already illegal to litter and I believe we should encourage HPD to enforce that existing ordinance," he said. "If we’re going to place yet another restriction on smoking, I think we should be consistent and do it citywide if we’re looking at addressing health concerns related to secondhand smoke."
If the measure is passed and proves successful, Council members have said it could be expanded to all beach parks under city control, similar to a ban imposed on Hawaii island since 2008.
The photovoltaic system inspections bill was introduced in response to the dramatic increase in PV installations on Oahu houses in recent years as property owners seek lower energy costs.
Bill 51, which passed by an 8-1 vote, aims to ease a sizable backlog in city electrical inspections resulting from the boom in PV system installations.
Anderson, who introduced the measure, said it will be of no cost to taxpayers because it gives homeowners the option of hiring, at their own expense, "approved special inspection agencies or individuals" to complete an inspection if the city Department of Planning and Permitting is unable to do so in a timely manner.
City electrical inspectors have testified against the bill, saying the Council should instead fund more positions in the department and that private, third-party inspectors would not have the training and support network to do the job properly.
