Politics & Government
Council Approves Designated Smoking Areas in City Parks
Gilroy Gardens, Christmas Hill Park and the Gilroy Golf Course will be exempt from the ordinance.
The Gilroy City Council passed an ordinance creating designated smoking areas within city-owned parks in a 4-1 vote Monday night. The approval is a breakthrough for opponents of smoking, after the council tossed aside a .
The new, approved ordinance includes some exemptions, though, that were discussed during a previous council meeting.
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and won't need to enforce designated smoking areas during the Gilroy Garlic Festival. The ordinance also , which is something Councilman Peter Arellano did not agree with.
“Why exclude the golf course?” he said. “It boggles my mind. What makes golfers different than anybody else? What if people at the tennis courts want to smoke cigars? Why do golfers get the exemption?”
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Councilman Dion Bracco was the single dissenting vote, calling the ordinance nothing more than a symbolic gesture.
“We ban drinking in public parks and people still drink,” he said. “It’s a waste of time and money and I don’t support it.”
Councilman Peter Leroe-Muñoz responded to Bracco’s remarks by reminding him that part of the ordinance’s intention is education.
“When people understand that they are limited to smoking in designated areas, they’ll police themselves,” he said.
Other items council members approved during Monday's meeting include:
- Although councilmen Bob Dillon and Perry Woodward were absent from Monday's meeting, the council approved in a 5-0 vote the request for an architectural and site review of property on the corner of Leavesley Road and Forest Street for .
- The council unanimously approved a 60-unit residential property project on the corner of Monterey and Eleventh streets.
- An amendment to the lease agreement between Gilroy Gardens and the city, extending the lease until February 28, 2014, was approved.
- Lastly, the council unanimously approved a 2 percent salary increase effective July 1, 2012 and another 2 percent salary increase effective July 1, 2013 for all union Gilroy police.
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