Smokers Are Unhappy With Ban on Pier

For the record, the grace period for a no-smoking ordinance on the Seal Beach Pier has been over for nearly a month. Instead of just warnings, police officers are now able to fine anyone caught smoking on the wooden landmark.

However, some smokers remain unfazed. Despite about a dozen no-smoking signs on the pier’s light posts, it’s easy to spot people with cigarettes and cigars on any given day.

While city officials say the ban is a safety issue, some pier visitors look at the ordinance as an infringement on their right to smoke.

“I hear them rant on and on all day long” about not being able to smoke, said Tiffany Underwood, a cashier at the bait shop at the end of the pier. “A lot of people don’t look at the signs, and when they find out [about the ban], they all seem very surprised and very angry.”

The ordinance, passed in April, is intended to protect the pier from fires. A discarded cigarette smoldering in wooden planks is believed to have caused a small blaze that stranded customers at Ruby’s restaurant April 1.

The smoking prohibition is believed to be the first at an Orange County pier, a safety precaution unheard of even at Southern California piers that have been devastated by fires in the past, notably in Santa Monica and Redondo Beach. In Seal Beach, smoking on the pier can cost violators up to $150.

Police were unable to say how many people have been fined since enforcement started.

Police Cpl. Raul Ahumada said the department’s approach is to first inform smokers of the ban and then fine those who ignore the warning. He echoed city officials’ stance on the ordinance not being a statement on smoking in general.

“We are not in a position to force a lifestyle,” Ahumada said. “Our major concerns are that pier safety is increased and that [cigarette butt] trash is reduced.”

Still, others are not convinced that the ban is purely a safety issue and maintain that their freedom to smoke in public places is continually being reduced.

Rich Gosselin, who said he is a courteous smoker, was unaware of the ban at the pier on a recent afternoon while resting on the rail and taking a drag. Now that he knows, he said he would abide, but wonders, “What’s next?”

Alex Murashko can be reached at (714) 966-5974.