By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Smoking will be banned in all West Windsor Township-owned parks and recreational facilities, under an amendment to the township’s tobacco use ordinance approved by West Windsor Township Council Monday night., The amendment to the ordinance – “Smoking and the Use of Tobacco Products Banned” – also stipulates that smoking will not be permitted within 35 feet of any entrance to West Windsor Township-owned buildings., Smoking had been prohibited within 35 feet of the front entrance, but now smoking will be banned at all entrances to the Municipal Building, the Senior Center, the West Windsor Post Office and the Police Department/Municipal Court building on the Municipal Campus at 271 Clarksville Road., The no-smoking ban at building entrances also applies to the township’s Department of Public Works facility, the West Windsor Arts Council building and the Emergency Services building, which are scattered throughout the township., In the township’s parks and recreational facilities, smoking had been permitted as long as the smoker was not within 35 feet of a non-smoker. Now, it will be banned in the parks and recreational facilities – including adjacent sidewalks, parking areas, driveways and drive aisles – that have been posted with no-smoking signs., Township Council had previously acknowledged the health and safety risks posed by smoking and found that it was in the public interest to restrict smoking in public buildings and public property., Expanding the ban on smoking may help to “prevent the youths of West Windsor Township from being exposed and succumbing to the temptations of experimenting with tobacco products,” according to the ordinance amendment.
