Nevada City council wants to get tough on smokers

By Pat Butler

Nevada City Advocate

The majority of the Nevada City council said Wednesday night they want to expand the city’s no-smoking zones beyond the parks and have an ordinance with “teeth” in it to encourage the police to crack down on smokers.

 “I don’t know why we wouldn’t say all city property,” City Councilor Sally Harris said of a proposal that was initially focused on Calanan and Pioneer parks and Robinson Plaza.

 Harris said the new ordinance needs to have “teeth” in it before being one of four city councilors who asked city staff to draft an ordinance that would include penalties for those caught smoking on city property.

 Mayor Reinette Senum said she wants the city to draft an even tougher ordinance for those who don’t dispose of their cigarettes properly.

 “I want to see a larger fine for dropping the butt,” she said. “There is wildlife on this planet dying because of this irresponsible behavior.”

 Councilors Robert Bergman and David McKay also supported expanding the no-smoking zones and having an ordinance that fines smokers.

 City Councilor Barbara Coffman opposed it.

“This is not going change who is at Calanan Park,” she said. “It will just move them 10 or 20 feet further out. That’s the logical thing that will happen. We’re just taking the problem and putting them in at somebody else’s front door.”

In other action on Wednesday night, the council:

Voted 3-2 to ban storefront medical marijuana dispensaries from Nevada City. Harris, McKay and Bergman voted for it. Senum and Coffman opposed it.

Voted 5-0 to start City Council meetings at 6:30 p.m. They have been starting at 7 p.m.

Heard the annual report from the Downtown Business Association. The organization said it spent 80 percent of its budget on two Comcast commercials that were shown in the Reno/Sparks area and the Sacramento area.

Heard that sales tax revenue was down 41.5 percent in the second quarter when compared to the same quarter last year.

Discussed the possibility of building a solar farm at the old Nevada City Airport.

More complete coverage of the Nevada City council meeting and many other stories will be found in the Nevada City Advocate, which will be distributed on Wednesday, Nov 25, in Nevada City, Grass Valley and the San Juan Ridge.