It’s been just under a year since the city of Ann Arbor, Mich. decided to ban smoking in roughly half of its 159 parks, starting with a group of 73 parks with playgrounds and four parks in the downtown core. With city leaders proclaiming the trial run a victory, the ban is being extended to 79 more parks as of Feb. 1, with just one park–known as Cobblestone Farm–and the city’s two golf courses getting exemptions from the ban. News of the smoking ban’s expansion came on Friday. “The ban on smoking has, overall, been well received by parks users over the past year,” said City of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation services manager Colin Smith in a press release. “With close to all city parks now becoming smoke free, we will be better equipped than ever to provide clean, safe and healthy facilities for our park users to enjoy.” Signage is being installed at the new additions that inform users of the ban, with the goal to get voluntary compliance through education and warnings. Should a park user refuse to comply, however, the city’s police department could be called to aid in enforcement and cite someone for violating the ban, ...
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