The Coos Bay City Council has snuffed out smoking on the city’s boardwalk, expanding an existing ordinance that bans smoking in one of the city’s most popular parks. Ordinance 428 adds one line to the existing Mingus Park smoking ban that now prohibits smoking on the boardwalk as well as within 25 feet of it. Concerns about the wooden structure’s susceptibility to fire being caused by tossed cigarette butts was one of the main reasons for the ban, with Mayor Crystal Shoji adding that the litter isn’t pleasant to look at and creates a bad impression of the city. The ordinance was passed unanimously by the seven member council at its June 18 meeting and according to KCBY.com, the proposal was met with no opposition from the community. It takes effect 30 days after the mayor’s signature, meaning a start date in mid-July. Coos Bay and its nearly 16,000 residents are located in Coos County on the southern part of Oregon’s coast, about 167 miles southwest of Portland.
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