REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - Rehoboth Beach could soon extend its non-smoking areas to other parts of town. Many locals and even city officials are in favor, but the city is taking those who do smoke into consideration.
Cigarette butts lying on the trail by the canal in Rehoboth Beach are one of the reasons people want more no smoking zones downtown.
Daphne Kaplan lives downtown and is in support of more smoking limits. “I participate in some beach cleanups and the thing we pick up most along the boardwalk and at the edges of the beach are cigarette butts," she says.
Smoking is already prohibited on the beach, boardwalk, in the city’s parks, and at the bandstand, but now the city is considering adding more areas to that list.
“There’s a park area along the canal on the south side of Rehoboth Avenue," Mayor Paul Kuhns says. "We just built the campus here for the city hall and we don’t have anything that says no smoking in certain areas, so I think this is another area.”
The Mayor and Commissioners also considered making Steve Elkins Way a no smoking zone during their meeting on June 10th.
Mayor Kuhns says along with more smoking zones, the city is also discussing the possibility of adding designated smoking areas. That's something John Mcglade would like to see.
"I do like to have a cigar once and a while and you’re finding it harder and harder to even do that," he says. "People do have a right to choose what they want to do.”
Kaplan, on the other hand says she doesn't support smoking due to the health risks, but she thinks designating areas where smoking is allowed would be fair. "I think that will be a great idea just to have specific areas, but the fewer the areas the better," she says.
According to Mayor Kuhns, the city will likely work over the summer to get the potential non-smoking areas into city code before they can vote to approve any code changes or amendments.