Board Says More Discussion Needed On Tobacco-Free Parks Proposal

Oconee County Board of Commissioners postponed a vote on Tuesday to enforce a after officials received several calls and emails concerning enforcement of the proposed policy.

“The enforcement issue is of concern,” Commissioner Melvin Davis said Wednesday. “That's the question I had from a couple of folks and it got me to thinking about that, and I think that needs a little more discussion.”

Oconee County currently restricts tobacco use to designated zones in parks, but their presence has made it difficult and awkward for park staff to enforce outside the zones, according to parks and recreation staff.

Under the proposed policy, visitors would be banned from smoking and chewing tobacco outdoors at ,, and the .

At an agenda-setting meeting on Oct. 25, Parks and Recreation Director John Gentry noted that Heritage Park likely would be the most challenging park to enforce the tobacco ban because of the variety of visitors the park attracts during rodeos and other horse riding events.

“There's different clientele then there is coming to a fast-pitch softball game, so the difficulty would be there,” Gentry said.

Heritage Park also has several horse and bike trails that would be a challenge for park staff to monitor and enforce, Davis said.

Officials agreed to table the discussion until the Board's next meeting on Nov. 29.

Do you think Oconee County should ban the use of tobacco in parks? How could a tobacco-free policy be enforced?