In a unanimous decision, the Marietta City Council has voted to ban smoking in Marietta’s Glover Park. The outdoor park in Marietta Square plays host to numerous events throughout the year, including rock concerts. After a recent concert, the Marietta City Council received numerous complaints about excessive cigarette and cigar smoke. As a result, smoking is now banned in the park effective immediately, and anyone caught smoking in the park could face fines as high as $500. Several other cities and counties in Georgia have already banned smoking in all public parks, and Marietta may vote to join them and ban smoking in public parks later this month.
if you dont want people to smoke, the gov. should stop baking the tobbaco companys and make it illagle to sell. damn the goverment for starting something thay cant stop. it would be just like the good old 20’s then no drinking LMFAO at all you people that think telling people thay can not smoke in places will get them to stop smoking.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comment. I do not think this law is an effort to get people to stop smoking. The bill protects the health of non-smokers who wish to attend events in a smoke free environment and allows children to play in a safe environment without the risks associated with second-hand smoke.
Yes, the cigarette smoke at the OUT DOOR Glover park is horrible! It’s almost as bad as all of the exhaust from the cars that pass by! As a concerned Marietta taxpayer, voter, and smoker, I can’t wait for the day cars are banned from a 10 mile radius of Glover park… Until then I guess I’ll step outside the fence to the free world to smoke… And you can bet it will be near the stage!
This is a very difficult task for the city. As a mother, I agree wholeheartedly with the intent of this decision. I have taken my 3 year old daughter to the park numerous times and have never felt she was in any direct threat from second hand smoke. 9 times out of 10 guests smoking in the park will ensure to keep a good distance from the children, but then again there is always that 1 parent/guest pushing their child on the swing with a cigarette in their mouth. I also smoke, so I sympathize with other smokers. I do think there has to be some kind of regulation to ensure that our children are not exposed to second hand smoke, but I also feel that some accomodation could be made. Could you not set up a smoker’s section of the park? Maybe a nice section of grass and trees set aside for those who would like to enjoy a personal right? Put up some nice benches and some cigarette disposals….accomodate both sides?
….and how about a ban on smoking at tables across the streets from glover park too? The odor messes up a nice “sit” and “stroll” outside the restaurants. Yuck!
TELL THE COUNCIL WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE UP –
The Kennesaw City Council has gotten some mixed press recently due to the recently passed ‘Smoking in the Park’ legislation.
Some comments, mine included, have been critical of this Council wasting time on such ‘fluff’ and not taking up other needed items, some of which were parts of recently elected Council members platforms when running for election (Hint: Pensions and City Workers Manual).
Some, again, myself included, think that such a decisive upheavel in having all 3 sitting Council members tossed out this past November should have resulted in some changes.
We are still waiting for changes and I don’t mean this nonsense about smoking in the park.
Until the Council members hear from Citizens, and I don’t mean ‘me’, they are all probably tired of hearing from me, then they will probably continue to slowly ‘look into’ things. I suggest that you drop them a line and let them know what concerns you have and what you want your Council to take up.
Here are the email addresses for the 5 now on Council:
dwilliams@kennesaw-ga.gov,
lchurch@kennesaw-ga.gov,
tkillingsworth@kennesaw-ga.gov,
cwelsh@kennesaw-ga.gov,
jsebastian@kennesaw-ga.gov
and you can always drop a line to me or copy me on other emails: consumer2014@aol.com and don’t forget to keep up with my occassional posts on: http://mayormathews.blogspot.com/
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your comments and taking the time to write your thoughts, but this article was written 5 years ago and relates to Marietta and not Kennesaw.