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No Smoking

When we moved to Branford four years ago, our first stop was the Branford Point/Parker Park beach, which we immediately recognized as a gem of natural and human collaboration with its crescent of sand, grassy expanses, rock formations, wooded areas, and dramatic, jutting point. So we were disappointed when we discovered that much of the beach and grounds were littered with cigarette butts, with second-hand smoke wafting across the beach.

Thus began our concerted campaign to get Branford to come up with a policy to end smoking in our parks and on our beaches. This took us to the Parker Park Commission, to the Parks & Recreation Department, and to the RTM, which last year ultimately deferred action on a no-smoking ordinance in favor of a no-smoking policy (crafted by Parks & Recreation Department).

Anyone who frequents our beaches and ball fields knows that this policy has been met with mixed results: People still smoke in the parks and dispose of their butts in the sand and in the grass, especially in parking areas and near driveways and roads. Clearly, the no-smoking rule constitutes a cultural shift that will take time to be assimilated and observed.

So far the policy has been promoted with notices in town publications, but with minimal signage. This year’s beach sticker packets from Town Hall will for the first time include a “no smoking” reminder. Let’s see if this moderate approach is enough to render our open spaces smoke-free. If not, there are many in Branford who may ask our RTM to convert the no-smoking policy into an ordinance with some enforcement mechanism.

Richard Hill and Leslie Rudden

Branford