Jacksonville would be allowed to ban smoking on beaches and parks under new legislation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The sound of the ocean waves, a cool crisp breeze, all tarnished by unsightly cigarette butts.

It’s an all-too-familiar experience for some beachgoers we spoke with at Jacksonville Beach Tuesday.

“There are cigarette butts everywhere. There are children out here and not to mention the fish and all that stuff ends up in the water,” said fisherman Elmer Merced.

“You can smell the smoke coming downwind and that can kind of upset your day and I don’t like seeing cigarette butts on the beach for sure,” said Beachgoer Brenden McCusker.

Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter found on local beaches, but you might be surprised to learn local governments in Florida have no ability to restrict smoking on public beaches.

“We hear a lot of feedback about the litter,” said Jacksonville Beach Mayor Christine Hoffman.

Hoffman told us unfortunately, her hands are tied when it comes to smoking on the beach because it’s an issue preempted by the state government.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Hoffman.

But this year state lawmakers appear poised to relinquish their authority over smoking on beaches and in public parks back to local governments.

The legislation cleared its final Senate committee Tuesday and has one more stop in the House later this week.

House sponsor Randy Fine said while some issues like school masking, lockdowns and other pandemic-related preemptions were passed in recent years, smoking in public areas isn’t nearly as controversial.

“Usually, we have to pull local governments back, local politicians back because they’re doing something goofy. Well, here we’re on another extreme where they can’t do anything at all. Again, you can literally smoke in the dugout while your kids are playing little league and there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” said Representative Fine (R-Palm Bay).

For Mayor Hoffman, the legislation’s passage would be a step in the right direction when it comes to local control.

“Every year we work with the Legislature to try to bring local control back as close as it can be to the citizens. That’s something work for along with the Florida League of Cities and our other municipalities every single legislative session. This is just one issue on a long list of similar types of issues,” said Hoffman.

If the legislation does cross the finish line the Mayor said she couldn’t make any guarantees about how the city would use its newfound authority.

She said enforcement would be a topic of discussion, but at the very least the conversation could begin, whereas under current law it can’t.

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